On 8 February, 100 Ukrainians returned home from Russian captivity in the latest Russo-Ukrainian POW swap, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported via Telegram.
Zelenskyy stated that the individuals released from Russian captivity include soldiers from the "national guards, border guards, Armed Forces," noting that the majority are "defenders of Mariupol."
On 31 January, 207 Ukrainian POWs returned home from Russian captivity in the second large prisoner exchange after a few-month-long pause.
Following the exchange, Ukrainian Colonel Denys Prokopenko (callsign Redis), commander of the Azov Regiment, revealed in a Facebook post that over 900 Azov fighters remain in Russian captivity.
Earlier, on 3 January, the largest POW swap since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion occurred, as Kyiv returned home 230 Ukrainians – 225 men and five women – from captivity, exchanging them for 248 Russians.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has returned home almost 3,000 military and civilians from Russian captivity.
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