On June 25, Ukraine returned 90 soldiers of the Ukrainian Defense Forces from Russian captivity.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that among them are soldiers from the National Guard of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Navy, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Territorial Defense Forces, and border guards.

“Those who defended the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Those who were in the Kherson, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk sectors,” Zelensky added.

Among those released are 52 defenders of Mariupol who held the line at the Azovstal plant.

This is the 53rd exchange of prisoners of war since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. In total, 3300 Ukrainians have been returned to date.

“We will monitor the observance of the rights of the returned persons, in particular, medical examination, rehabilitation, obtaining the necessary documents, and bank cards,” told Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.

Before that, the last exchange of prisoners took place on May 31, 2024. Back then, 75 people were returned from Russian captivity.

Among the rescued defenders were 70 men and 5 women, 6 officers, and 65 privates and sergeants.

Previously, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that he did not rule out the exchange of prisoners “all for all” before the end of the war.

“It is desirable to exchange all for all. All adequate countries support this. We have exchanges, they are slower than we would like. Some people are skeptical, saying that [it’s possible] only after the war is over. Because this is one of the conditions for the end of the war,” Zelensky said.

As previously reported, more than 300 Russian soldiers have surrendered to Ukraine under the “I Want to Live” project.

It is reported that some of them immediately expressed a desire not to be exchanged or even to join the Ukrainian Defense Forces.