Thanks to the efforts of the of the Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of Waron behalf of the President of Ukraine, the long-awaited exchange of prisoners of war took place for the first time since February this year.
Today, 75 Ukrainian defenders, as well as Ukrainian civilians, are returning to their families. Among the rescued Defenders are 70 men and five women, six officers and 65 privates and non-commissioned officers. At least a third of the rescued soldiers have been injured, seriously ill or disabled.
This time, 37 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were released from captivity, including 13 members of the Navy and two members of the Air Force. Also, 21 National Guardsmen were released from captivity. Seven border guards, six terrorists and four Ukrainian civilians are returning home.
We managed to bring back 19 defenders of Zmiyiny Island, 14 servicemen who guarded the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and ten defenders of Mariupol. Ukrainians captured in the Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Sumy sectors are returning home.
Today’s exchange is the 52nd since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. As of today, 3210 Ukrainian defenders have been released from the occupiers’ captivity. We would like to express our special gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for their active participation in the implementation of this exchange.
There are still many Ukrainian defenders and civilian Ukrainians in enemy captivity. Despite all the difficulties and opposition from the aggressor state, the Coordination Center continues to make efforts to ensure that all our people return home as soon as possible.