The next stage of a major prisoners of war exchange has been completed - seriously wounded and seriously ill defenders have been returned from Russian captivity.
This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He noted that servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine returned home, including those from the Air Assault Forces, the Navy, the Air Force, the Territorial Defence Forces, the State Special Transport Service, as well as the State Border Guard Service and the National Guard.
Among those released are defenders of Mariupol who had been in captivity for more than three years. All of the released defenders are men, privates and sergeants. Some of the released defenders were considered missing.
‘Today's exchange is part of a large exchange in the categories of servicemen under the age of 25, as well as the seriously wounded and seriously ill. The work continues,’ the President added.
- On 2 June, the delegations of Ukraine and Russia agreed in Istanbul on new prisoner exchanges. According to Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, there is an agreement to focus on specific categories rather than numbers: the exchange of seriously wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war, the second category being young soldiers aged 18 to 25. There was also an agreement on the return of 6,000 bodies of fallen soldiers.
- On 9 June, the exchange of prisoners of war between Ukraine and Russia began as part of the Istanbul agreements. The exchange will take place in several stages.
- On 10 June, the second stage of the exchange took place - the parties returned home groups of wounded and seriously injured soldiers.