Ukraine returns 49 more soldiers from captivity, including Azovstal defenders
Photo: Ukraine exchanged 49 soldiers on September 13 (t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official)
Another prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia took place today. Ukraine managed to return 49 soldiers, including Azovstal defenders, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, and Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
“49 Ukrainians are home. These are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the National Police, the State Border Guard Service, as well as our civilians,” he said.
According to the president, among them is Leniie Umerova, a girl who was taken hostage by Russians when she came to take care of her sick father.
“We also managed to release some more defenders of Azovstal. The Hero of Ukraine, military medic Viktor Ivchuk is also home,” Zelenskyy added.
According to the Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, the health of the people who returned from captivity is very poor, many of them have lost tens of kilograms of weight.
What is special about the swap
According to the Coordination Headquarters, this exchange is special because 23 women were released from captivity for the first time in a long time.
“These are Ukrainian civilians who were detained and illegally imprisoned by the Russians before the full-scale invasion. We also managed to release women who had been subjected to inhumane treatment, in particular through forced participation in the so-called trial of Mariupol defenders. Crimean Tatar activist Leniie Umerova, who was captured by Russians while crossing the border of Georgia, was released,” the statement said.
Besides, 23 soldiers and sergeants, as well as 19 officers were released.
“Eight are representatives of the Armed Forces (including two from the TRO), two from the National Police, four border guards, 13 sailors, 15 defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal from the National Guard. The remaining seven were civilians. The liberated defenders were defending our land in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson sectors,” the headquarters said.
In total, 3,569 Ukrainians have returned home from captivity since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. On September 13, the 56th exchange of prisoners of war took place.
'All for all' POW exchange
Ukraine has repeatedly stated that it is ready to conduct an exchange with Russia in the "all for all" format. In May, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that an “all-for-all” exchange was possible only in one case.
As the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said in August, despite the operation of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region of Russia and the replenishment of the exchange fund, there will be no "all for all" exchange with Russia soon.
Unlike Ukraine, Russia constantly disrupts prisoner exchanges. In May, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said that the Kremlin was using the issue of prisoner exchange to destabilize the situation in Ukraine.
