Another 160 soldiers released from captivity - Zelenskyy

Another 160 Ukrainian soldiers have been released from russian captivity. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this on his Telegram channel, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

“We continue to bring Ukrainians home from Russian captivity. Today, 160 servicemen were released from captivity. All of them had been held captive since 2022,” he said.

Zelenskyy noted that among those released today are servicemen from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service, the National Guard, and border guards who defended Ukraine in Mariupol and at Azovstal, as well as in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy Regions.

He thanked the units on the front lines that are replenishing Ukraine’s prisoner exchange pool and making it possible to bring people home.

The President emphasized that Ukraine must bring back everyone held captive—both military personnel and civilians.

According to a report by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on its Telegram channel, the released prisoners include 115 defenders of Mariupol. In addition to soldiers and sergeants, 58 officers were also returned home. The youngest released defender is 26 years old, and the oldest is 66.

It is noted that, in total, the Coordination Headquarters has returned 9,606 military personnel and civilians from captivity during its period of operation.

The Coordination Headquarters expressed gratitude to the United States of America and the United Arab Emirates for their mediation and assistance in organizing the exchange.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the 75th prisoner exchange took place on June 5: 186 Ukrainians returned home.