On 6 March, during a prisoner exchange with Russia, 300 servicemen and two civilians are returning to Ukraine.
“Another 300 Ukrainian defenders are coming home from Russian captivity. Two Ukrainian civilians were also returned today,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets noted that this is the second stage of the exchange carried out under agreements reached during talks in Geneva.
Zelenskyy noted that among those returned are servicemen from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guard, and Border Guard Service.
“Privates, sergeants, officers. They defended Ukraine on various fronts: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, and Mariupol. Most have been in captivity for over a year, some since 2022,” the president wrote.
The oldest freed today is 60, the youngest is 26. The youngest defender was captured in 2022 at age 22. Today’s returnees also include six defenders who share three identical surnames.
Zelenskyy thanked the military personnel who made this possible, “replenishing Ukraine’s exchange fund.”
“Thanks to the entire team that worked for this result. Grateful to the United States for mediation. It’s important that the agreements worked. We remember each and every one and will definitely bring all our people back,” the president stressed.
In total, 500 defenders returned home over yesterday and today. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, 6,922 Ukrainians have been freed.
- Yesterday, Ukraine and Russia also carried out a prisoner exchange, with 200 Ukrainians returning home.