Thousands of Ukrainians freed from captivity: Ombudsman reveals US role
Photo: Dmytro Lubinets (Getty Images)
Nearly 10,000 Ukrainians have returned home from Russian captivity. This was made possible in part thanks to US assistance, Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.
"As of today, 9,726 heroes and heroines who went through Russian captivity are already back home. And we achieved this in part thanks to American assistance," he stressed.
The ombudsman noted that Ukraine would not forget the US role in organizing the special "1,000 for 1,000" exchanges.
"I want to express my personal gratitude to you. It was the American side that proposed the return of civilians and civilian hostages, including clergy whom we managed to bring home. To date, we have managed to return 464 civilians, but I know that we are doing and will do everything to ensure that every man and woman returns home," Lubinets said.
He said that since 2025, there has been a specific window of opportunity to bring Ukrainian children home from Russian captivity.
"This began when the US First Lady started publicly and privately helping to return Ukrainian children who had been deported by the Russians. As of today, we have managed to bring back 2,506 Ukrainian children," the ombudsman said.
It should be recalled that the second stage of the latest prisoner exchange took place today. Ukraine brought home 10 service members who had been considered missing.
Dmytro Lubinets recently reported that Russia had provided information on the whereabouts of 79 Ukrainian service members who had been considered missing.
It was also reported that on August 19, 103 Ukrainians returned home from Russian captivity. In exchange, Ukraine returned 103 Russian prisoners of war to Russia.
