Large-scale exchange: 230 Ukrainians and 248 Russians returned home from captivity

The largest exchange of prisoners of war during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine took place: 230 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians were released in exchange for 248 Russian military personnel.

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said:

“Ours are at home. More than 200 of our soldiers and civilians were returned from Russian captivity. Soldiers, sergeants, officers. Soldiers of the Armed Forces, National Guard, Navy, border guards. Some of the defenders defended Mariupol and Azovstal. Thanks to everyone who, despite everything difficulties, brings our people home! Thanks to our defenders! We will do everything to return all our people who are now in Russian captivity.”

The coordination headquarters noted that this is the largest exchange of prisoners of war during the full-scale invasion. Among the 230 who returned home were 130 representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (including 14 Troops, 14 Navy), 55 from the National Guard, 38 from the State Border Service, 1 from the National Police and six civilians who were illegally deprived of their liberty. The SBU showed footage of the return of Ukrainians:

СБУ показала, як захисники поверталися з полону pic.twitter.com/tXDmB0vO7x

— Українська правда ✌️ (@ukrpravda_news) January 3, 2024

Among those returned were those who had official prisoner of war status, confirmed through the International Committee of the Red Cross (182 people), as well as Ukrainian military personnel who were considered missing and had the status of “search for a person” (48). Among those released were 225 men and five women. clarifies “UP”, there are 213 privates and sergeants, eleven are officers. The message says:

“After grueling months of captivity, a combat medic from the 36th Marine Brigade returned. While in captivity, she basically spoke Ukrainian. The Russians several times simulated taking her out for exchange, but in the end they returned her back to her place of detention. Finally, the seven defenders will see their family and friends Zmeiny Island, a musician of a military orchestra, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who was deprived of her freedom by the Russians while on maternity leave, national guardsmen who were captured while performing their duties at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, a civilian teacher at the V. Dahl East Ukrainian National University, defenders of Mariupol.”

In turn, the Russian Ministry of Defense reports that on January 3, “as a result of a complex negotiation process, 248 Russian military personnel were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime.” According to the Ministry of Defense, the return of Russian military personnel from captivity became possible thanks to the humanitarian mediation participation of the UAE.

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, says:

“After a significant period of time, we managed to carry out a very complex exchange. … This exchange took quite a long time to prepare. Let’s say, the United Arab Emirates also directly participated in the organization of this process, and with its help, together we were able to do this.”

Budanov confirmed that among those returned there is a combat medic, as well as defenders from Zmeiny Island and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, who were captured in the early days of a full-scale war. Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubinets clarified that this was the 49th exchange between the parties. According to official data from Kyiv, at the end of 2023, there were 4,337 people in Russian captivity, of which 763 were civilians. According to Dmitry Lubinets, another prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia may take place in the coming weeks. He added that over the past two weeks there have been certain developments in negotiations with Russia: mutual visits to prisoners of war, mutual exchange of warm things and today, finally, the return of prisoners.

Source link