Ukraine has exchanged prisoners with Russia — 95 Ukrainians have returned home. These are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and border guards.
President Zelenskyy announced this on his Telegram channel.
“We continue to return our people home. Another 95 defenders have been released from Russian captivity. These are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and border guards,” he wrote.
The president also thanked everyone who participated and helped:
“Thank you to our exchange team and the United Arab Emirates for brokering this release. As difficult as it is, we are looking for everyone who may be in captivity. We must bring everyone back.”
These are 49 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, among whom are volunteers of the "air bridge" who flew on helicopters to Azovstal. There are also two pilots among them. 21 National Guardsmen, 10 military sailors, seven Teroboronivtsi soldiers, five border guards, two soldiers from the State Special Service for Transport and one defender from the volunteer formation of the territorial community were also released.
23 released people defended Mariupol (13 of them were Azovstal defenders), all the others fought in the Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Zaporizhia directions.
Many of those released require long-term treatment after injuries and illnesses.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the exchange took place according to the "95 for 95" formula. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) provided assistance as an intermediary.
Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova said that during the prisoner exchange, her staff met with a representative of the Ukrainian Ombudsman's Office. They discussed "joint humanitarian actions.".
