Ukraine returns 95 defenders from Russian captivity - Zelenskyy

“95 of our people are home again. These are the warriors who defended Mariupol and Azovstal, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions. I thank the team involved in finding and liberating prisoners. We are doing everything to bring back all of our people held by Russia. I am grateful to the warriors who replenish the exchange fund and to all our partners who help us,” Zelenskyy stated.

Photo: Ukraine returns 95 defenders from Russian captivity

In turn, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, reported that a total of 3,767 Ukrainians have been returned from Russian captivity since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Notably, today marked the 58th prisoner exchange. He also clarified that all the returned Ukrainians now require physical and psychological rehabilitation.

“The Ombudsman's Office staff is present at the exchange site to record the condition of the returned people. They also inform the defenders about their rights, including rehabilitation and social and medical care. This is an important aspect of our work,” he wrote.

Lubinets also noted that the UAE mediated the exchange.

“Together with other state bodies, we work every day to bring all our people home. I am grateful to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Joint Center for Coordination of the Search and Release of Prisoners of War, illegally detained persons as a result of the aggression against Ukraine (SSU), and other state bodies for their work. The exchange was mediated by the UAE,” he added.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War also confirmed the release of 95 Ukrainian defenders from Russian captivity.

What makes this exchange notable is that many of the Ukrainians returning home had been handed so-called sentences by Russia’s judicial system, with 28 sentenced to long terms and 20 to life imprisonment for defending their land against the aggressor.

“Among those released from captivity today are National Guardsmen, naval forces, soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, border guards, and representatives of other security and defense units. Our men defended Mariupol, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions. Among those freed are 69 soldiers, sergeants, and 26 officers,” the headquarters specified.

During this same exchange, Ukraine managed to return a human rights defender and a serviceman of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who had been sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony by the so-called Donbas court. This refers to Maksym Butkevych, who joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in March 2022 and was captured by Russian forces in June of that same year.