Second Prisoner Exchange in Two Days: Ukraine Brings Home Another 103 Citizens from Russian Captivity Today
Ukraine has returned 103 more of its citizens from Russian captivity today. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrinform reports.
‘Ours are at home. Another 103 soldiers were returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity. 82 privates and sergeants. 21 officers. Defenders of Kyiv, Donetsk, Mariupol and Azovstal, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv regions. Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, border guards, and police officers. I am grateful to our team that deals with exchanges for such good news for Ukraine,’ Zelenskyy said.
Today's exchange of 103 prisoners took place with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates.
This was reported by Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, on the air of the national telethon ‘United News’.
‘This time, we are grateful to the United Arab Emirates for their mediation, assistance and support in conducting this exchange. This is, of course, important,’ Yusov said.
At the same time, he noted that those international structures responsible for monitoring and observing international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions are effectively blocked and not involved in these processes due to the position of the aggressor state.
‘Ukraine is happy to engage any effective mediators and international instruments to rescue our citizens who are now in Russian captivity. We are definitely open to such proposals,’ said the representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.
A total of 3,672 Ukrainians have been returned from Russian captivity since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
As reported, yesterday, 49 Ukrainians were returned from Russian captivity. Among them were soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the National Police, the State Border Guard Service, as well as civilians.
