Ukraine Returns 75 more of Citizens from Russian Captivity

On Friday, 31 May, Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners. Ukraine managed to return 75 more people from Russian captivity.  This was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

‘Another 75 of our people have returned to Ukraine. Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard, border guards, four civilians - all of them are already on their native land,’ Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote.   

‘We remember everyone. We are making every effort to find each one of them. I am grateful to the team that is working on the exchanges!’ Zelenskyy stressed.

‘This is the result of the work of the Joint Centre for the Coordination of the Search and Release of Prisoners of War, which implemented the decision of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The life of every Ukrainian is the highest value!’ - the Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement.

During the ‘United News’ marathon, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, said that 65 of the 75 returned Ukrainian prisoners were privates and sergeants. There are also 5 women among the returned prisoners.

‘On the eve of Children's Day, some Ukrainian children received a gift in the form of their parents, but everyone has to wait. Today, 75 Ukrainians, mostly servicemen, but also civilians, including five women, one of whom is a military officer, have returned to their homes. 65 people are non-commissioned officers and an officer,’ he said.

In total, 3210 Ukrainians have been returned from Russian captivity. This was reported by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets.

According to him, employees of the Ombudsman's Office are at the exchange site to monitor the observance of human rights in accordance with international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.