“We are returning our own”: Ukraine releases young soldiers and wounded defenders from captivity
26 June 2025 19:20
Ukraine has conducted a new round of prisoner-of-war exchanges with Russia as part of the agreements reached during the Istanbul talks. Ukrainian defenders under the age of 25, as well as soldiers with injuries and health problems, returned to their homes.
This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War noted that the released servicemen include members of the Armed Forces, including the Navy, Army, Air Assault Forces, and the Terrorist Defense Forces, as well as members of the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service.
Key details of the exchange:
- Long-term detention: most of the prisoners had been in captivity for more than three years.
- Mariupol: a significant number were captured during the defense of the city in 2022.
- Age ofthe released: The youngest soldier is 24 years old, the oldest is 62.
- Release of the National Guard: among the returned soldiers are those who guarded the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.
- There are officers among the dismissed: they defended the country in key areas – Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Kherson, Kyiv and Sumy.
Some of the defenders were in the status of missing persons – Russia did not confirm their detention. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets emphasized that it was thanks to the negotiations that their return was achieved.
After the second round of talks in Istanbul on June 2, Ukraine and Russia agreed on a new format for the exchange of prisoners. The parties decided to focus not on the quantitative ratio, but on the exchange of prisoners in clearly defined categories: seriously ill, seriously wounded, and military personnel aged 18 to 25.
Several exchanges have already taken place under this agreement. For example, on June 9, a group of defenders under the age of 25 returned to Ukraine. on June 10, the parties conducted the first exchange of seriously wounded and sick people. During the next stages, in particular on June 20, Ukraine again managed to return soldiers from the category of seriously wounded and those in need of medical care.
