As a result of measures taken by the Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on behalf of the President of Ukraine , 95 more Ukrainian servicemen were released from enemy captivity.
Among the released soldiers are 49, including a member of the “air bridge”, who voluntarily volunteered to fly a helicopter to Azovstal to help the blocked units, as well as two servicemen from the Air Force. In addition, 21 National Guardsmen, 10 sailors, seven members of the Territorial Defense Forces, and five border guards were released, two representatives of the State Special Transport Service, and one defender from a volunteer territorial community unit.
All those released this time are men: 88 privates and sergeants, seven officers. Among our heroes who have gained their freedom, 23 defended Mariupol (including 13 Azovstal defenders ), 41 fought in the Donetsk sector, nine in the Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia sectors, and three in the Kherson and Kharkiv sectors. One of the released sailors was in the Kyiv region at the time of the invasion and and immediately joined the defense of his village against the invaders as part of the Makariv TRO. While providing humanitarian aid to the residents of the local community , he was captured by Russian soldiers.
Many returning Ukrainian soldiers suffer from the consequences of their injuries and have chronic illnesses that require long-term treatment. Most of them have been in captivity since 2022. Also among those released is a defender who was considered missing.
Ukraine expresses its gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for its assistance and mediation in the preparation of the exchange.
This is the 54th prisoner exchange since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. In total, the Coordination Center managed to return 3405 people from enemy captivity .
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