After releasing 1,000 defenders, Ukraine moves fast on next prisoner swaps
Photo: Ukraine is working on releasing new groups of prisoners (t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official)
After completing a large-scale prisoner swap that brought 1,000 Ukrainian defenders home, the country is already working on the next operations, reports "We Are Ukraine," citing Andrii Yusov, Representative of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Yusov said that since the start of the full-scale invasion, a total of 5,757 Ukrainian citizens and foreigners have returned home through such exchanges.
"Today, the 65th prisoner swap has been completed. Another 1,000 Ukrainian defenders have returned home... The work continues — we need to bring back every single one. This is a clear task. The coordination headquarters is already working on organizing and carrying out the next operations. Every Ukrainian must return from Russian captivity," Yusov said.
1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap
During talks in Türkiye on May 16, Ukrainian and Russian delegations agreed to a large-scale prisoner swap on a 1,000-for-1,000 format.
Because of its scale, the swap took place over several days in multiple stages. It started on Friday, May 23.
In the first stage, 390 people were released from Russian captivity — 270 military personnel and 120 civilians. Among them were members of the Navy, Air Assault Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, the National Guard of Ukraine, and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
Yesterday marked the second day of the swap, with Ukraine bringing back 307 soldiers. This group included 27 defenders of Mariupol. Soldiers from several other military units were released for the first time.
Today, another 303 Ukrainians returned from Russian captivity. This group included 70 soldiers who defended Mariupol.
RBC-Ukraine shared exclusive footage of the prisoner swap released by the Security Service of Ukraine.
