Ukrainian Military Along With Civilians Returned Home as Part of New Prisoner Exchange

As part of the 68th prisoner exchange, Ukraine secured the release of eight civilian hostages along with military personnel.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported the exchange.

It took place under agreements reached in Istanbul, where Ukraine and Russia agreed to swap all seriously wounded and seriously ill prisoners, as well as young soldiers aged 18 to 25.

Among the freed soldiers are the members of nearly all branches of the defense forces: airborne assault, air, naval, territorial defense, the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service. All released defenders were privates and sergeants.

Most of the prisoners had spent more than three years in captivity. They fought in Mariupol, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kyiv and Sumy regions, and guarded the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Those captured in occupied territories, including Crimea, will also reunite with their families.

Among the civilian hostages, two Ukrainian journalists were released. Dmytro Khyliuk and Mark Kaliush were detained by Russian forces in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Others released include Serhii Kovalev, a medic from the Hospitallers battalion who treated soldiers and civilians during the siege of the Azovstal plant, and Volodymyr Mykolaienko, the former mayor of Kherson, who was detained for refusing to collaborate with occupying forces.

The total number of freed prisoners was not officially disclosed. Media reports said 146 Ukrainian soldiers had been released in addition to the eight civilians.