Ukraine releases 150 defenders from captivity: first footage of the meeting
5 February 2025 23:07
VIDEO
As part of the prisoner exchange, 150 of our defenders returned to Ukraine, including fighters from Mariupol, Zaporizhzhia region and other frontline areas. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his Telegram channel, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
“We are returning 150 of our defenders from Russian captivity. These are soldiers, sergeants, and officers. They are soldiers of the Navy who were captured in Mariupol and Zaporizhzhia region, the Air Force, Air Assault and Land Forces, National Guard, border guards, terrorist fighters, and a police officer. All of them are from different frontlines, but they have one thing in common: they fought for Ukraine,” the President said.
According to him, among the liberated soldiers, there are servicemen who had spent more than two years in Russian captivity.
The Head of State also thanked the UAE for making efforts to bring our defenders home as soon as possible.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War clarified that the released prisoners include 47 sergeants, 69 soldiers, 16 sailors and 18 officers. All of them defended our country from the enemy on different frontlines. National Guardsmen who guarded the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal have also returned home.
Among the liberated Ukrainians are the soldiers who took part in the operation in Kursk region.
“This time, 108 soldiers of the Armed Forces are returning home (including seven from the ATO, 26 from the Navy and three from the Air Force). Also, 22 National Guardsmen, 19 border guards and one representative of the National Police were released from captivity. They were defending Ukrainian land from the enemy in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Sumy, and Kyiv regions,” the statement said.
According to the agency, the exchange was the 61st since the beginning of the war. In total, Ukraine managed to return 4131 people to their homeland.
