A video has been released showing the return of 186 Ukrainian defenders
On June 5, the 75th prisoner exchange took place, resulting in Ukraine’s return of 186 of its citizens. Among those released were servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including units of the Territorial Defense Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported.
They defended Ukraine in the ranks of the Marine Corps, airborne assault, airborne, motorized infantry, and mechanized units. Fighters from the “Azov” battalion, as well as defenders of Mariupol, also returned home.
All those released were officially confirmed as prisoners of war through the ICRC.
The youngest of those returned is 27 years old, and the oldest is 62. For 15 of these defenders, this June will be special not only because of their return home, but also because they will celebrate their birthdays with their families for the first time in a long while.
It also so happens that a father and son are returning home today—they defended Ukraine in the same brigade and were taken prisoner one day apart in 2022! I sincerely congratulate their family, which is celebrating a double holiday today!
Each such exchange is the result of complex and lengthy work by the negotiation team of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, carried out on behalf of the President of Ukraine.
Partners from the United States of America and the United Arab Emirates played a significant role in this release of Ukrainians, as they did in previous ones. Thank you!
I also worked directly on the ground alongside my representatives: Yuriy Kovbasa within the security and defense sector, as well as in the regions: Tetiana Myronenko, Oleksandr Korniychuk, and Maryana Nischenko.
We spoke with the returning Ukrainians: we informed them about their future rights and emphasized the procedures for discharge from service and for receiving social and financial assistance.
For me, today’s exchange is yet another reminder: the state is fighting for its own. And this fight will continue until all Ukrainians return home, Lubinets wrote on Telegram.
As a reminder, Ukraine has already managed to return 2,126 children abducted by Russia as part of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative.
Ukraine has managed to return two children who were left without parental care in Kazakhstan and found themselves in a foreign country. The brother and sister were evacuated from Almaty following a complex, multi-stage operation coordinated by Ukrainian services. The children are now safe at home.
