Ukraine Returns Soldiers From Russian Captivity

Ukraine has returned a group of servicemen under the age of 25 and seriously wounded from Russian captivity under the Istanbul agreements.

The Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported this.

On Thursday, June 26, the next stage of the large exchange took place, during which Ukraine managed to return the representatives of:

• Navy,
• Land Forces,
• Air Assault Forces,
• Territorial Defense,
• National Guard,
• and the State Border Guard Service.

The headquarters shared that what made this exchange special was the return of young soldiers. The youngest of them is 24 years old and was captured during the defense of Mariupol in April 2022, at the age of 21.

The oldest defender who was returned to his homeland is 62 years old.

The vast majority of the released defenders were held in captivity for over three years. Many of them were captured during the defense of Mariupol. The National Guard who guarded the Chornobyl nuclear power plant were also freed from captivity.

Soldiers who defended the country in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Kherson, Kyiv, and Sumy directions are also returning home. There are officers among those released.

The Coordination Headquarters noted that the work on the release of the military from captivity continues and the next stage of the release of Ukrainian prisoners will be held in the near future.