Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has conducted 28 exchanges and released 978 people from Russian captivity, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said at a briefing.
"The last few weeks have become crucial in the issue of war prisoner (POWs) exchanges. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 28 exchanges have already been carried out and 978 people have been released, including 99 civilians. We are constantly negotiating the release and exchange of our POWs," the Deputy Minister said.
She appealed to the relatives of POWs and missing persons with a request to trust the information about their close ones only to the state-authorized institutions, namely to the coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war.
On 27 October, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that it recorded an increase in appeals regarding fraudsters who try to profit from relatives of POWs, offering fake services for the exchange, return of bodies and telephone conversations.