On Saturday, 30 April, another exchange of war prisoners took place. Ukraine returns home 14 of its citizens. One of the military, whose exchange was confirmed, is in the fifth month of pregnancy.
Deputy Prime Minister - Minister for Reintegration of the Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk reported about it.
"Today, we exchanged prisoners. Fourteen of our people are returning home: 7 military and 7 civilians. For me, this exchange is special: one of the military women is in the fifth month of pregnancy. God save her!" the official wrote in a telegram channel.
Earlier, Iryna Vereshchuk stated that during the exchange of prisoners, the russian side tried to exchange the Ukrainian civilian population for prisoners of war, which the Geneva Conventions expressly prohibit.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, there are more than a thousand hostages in Russia - including almost 500 women. They are kept in prisons and pre-trial detention centers in Kursk, Bryansk, Ryazan, and Rostov.
Vereshchuk stressed that russia refuses to return civilian women. According to her, Kyiv intends to refuse exchanges if there are no women on the list. Otherwise, they cannot be saved.
On 28 April, the seventh exchange of prisoners took place since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the russian federation to Ukraine. 45 Ukrainians were liberated from russian captivity: 13 officers and 20 soldiers (5 of whom were wounded), and 12 civilians.