President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine has returned 75 people from Russian captivity. This group includes soldiers of the Armed Forces and the National Guard, border guards, and four civilians.
Among those released are 19 individuals captured from Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, ten defenders of Mariupol and the Azovstal steel plant, 14 servicemen from the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, as well as Ukrainian military personnel captured in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy sectors, according to the Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
“This time, we managed to liberate 37 representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including 13 soldiers of the Ukrainian Navy and two members of the Air Force. Also, 21 National Guardsmen. Seven border guards, six defenders of the Territorial Defense Forces, and four Ukrainian civilians are returning home,” the Centre said.
The 75 released captives comprise 70 men and five women. At least a third of those rescued have sustained injuries, serious illnesses, or disabilities.
“I can’t believe we’re home. We’ve finally been exchanged. It’s beyond words,” the defenders of Zmiinyi Island, who were in captivity since the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Coordination Center stated that today’s exchange is the 52nd since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As of now, 3,210 Ukrainian defenders have been liberated from the captivity of the Russian occupation forces.
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