Ukraine’s SBU on Saturday released a video of 75 prisoners of war returning to Ukraine on its website.
Seventy-five 75 soldiers and civilians were returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity as part of a prisoner exchange on May 31. As many as 3,210 Ukrainians have already been returned from Russian captivity.
“This is the result of the work of the Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The life of every Ukrainian is the highest value!” the SBU report said.
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One of the prisoners was 22-year-old was Mariana Checheliuk, a police officer in Mariupol before she was captured in May 2022.
Thanks to the efforts of the Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, an exchange of prisoners took place for the first time since February this year, on the instructions of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Among the liberated are 70 men and 5 women, 6 officers and 65 representatives of private and non-commissioned officers. At least a third of those rescued have injuries, serious illnesses or disabilities, the Coordination Center reported.
In this exchange, 37 representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were released from captivity, including 13 soldiers of the Naval Forces and 2 representatives of the Air Force. Also released were 21 members of the national guards, 7 border guards, 6 members of the territorial defense, and 4 civilian Ukrainian women.
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Among those were 19 defenders of Zmiiny Island, 14 military personnel who guarded the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and 10 defenders of Mariupol, according to the report.
Friday’s exchange was the 52nd since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. As of now, 3,210 Ukrainian POWs have been freed from the captivity of the occupiers.
The Coordination Center also expressed its gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for their active participation in the implementation of this exchange.
Despite the swap, nearly 2,000 Ukrainian POWs are still being held in Russia prisons.
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