A plane carrying 10 Ukrainian prisoners of war, citizens of five countries, arrived in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, from Russia.

Reuters reported that the mediator in these negotiations was Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He communicated directly with Ukraine and Russia regarding the return of detainees.

Among the freed prisoners are five Britons, two Americans, a Croatian, a Moroccan and a Swedish national.

The freed will be transferred to their countries.

Their names have not yet been made public, but, most likely, the Russians released:

– Swedish citizen Matthias Gustavsson;
– Croatian citizen Vekoslav Prebig;
– British citizens John Harding, Andrew Hill, Dylan Healy, Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin;
– Moroccan citizen Brahim Saadoun;
– as well as two U.S. citizens – Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh.

Some of them were even “sentenced” to the death penalty by militants in the occupied Donbas.

Aslin, Pinner and Saadoun moved to Ukraine and signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine before the full-scale Russian invasion.

They fought as part of the 1st Separate Naval Infantry Battalion.

As previously reported, at the beginning of September, another 14 Ukrainian defenders who were in Russian captivity returned home. An officer and a military paramedic are among those released.

Previously, Ukraine returned the bodies of 19 fallen defenders. The return process took place in accordance with the norms of the Geneva Convention.

Additionally, two of the 50 women from Azovstal who are currently held captive by Russia are pregnant.