Ukraine and Russia have conducted one of the largest prisoner exchanges, resulting in the return home of 175 Ukrainian soldiers, IZ writes. Another 22 soldiers were released through separate events outside of the official exchanges. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the data, among those released are soldiers, sergeants and officers who fought in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Navy, the National Guard, the Territorial Defense Forces and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. They defended Ukraine in various directions – from Mariupol and Azovstal to Donbas, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Sumy and Kursk regions.
The Coordination Headquarters reported that three released servicemen were under so-called “investigation.” “This can be considered additional torture for both the soldiers themselves and their families,” the department noted.
Among those who returned, the largest number of representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – 149 servicemen. Also released:
• 4 Territorial Defense fighters,
• 11 Navy servicemen,
• 8 National Guardsmen, including three Azov fighters,
• 3 border guards.
Regarding the places of hostilities where defenders were held captive, the data is distributed as follows:
• 31 soldiers defended Mariupol, including 18 from Azovstal,
• 74 defenders fought in the Donetsk region,
• 39 – in Luhansk region,
• 8 – in the Kharkiv region,
• 5 – in the Kherson region,
• Two each – in Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia, Sumy and Kursk regions.
In addition, among those released are 22 seriously injured servicemen who have serious injuries and require treatment. 21 of them are representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one is a border guard.
We remind you that we previously wrote about Russia's new strikes on Ukraine with Shahed drones.