Ukraine welcomes home 230 soldiers, civilians in largest prisoner swap with Russia to date

Ukraine has returned more than 200 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in a video published on social media.

"Our guys are home. More than 200 of our soldiers and civilians were returned from Russian captivity. Soldiers, sergeants, officers. Soldiers of the Armed Forces, National Guard, Navy, border guards. Part of the defenders defended Mariupol and Azovstal," the president wrote.

Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets added that Ukraine has already managed to return home 2,828 Ukrainian soldiers. This is the 49th exchange of prisoners of war, during which they were able to return 230 people.

The returned Ukrainians will undergo a medical examination, get help with the restoration of documents and cards, and undergo rehabilitation.

The commissioner stressed that Ukraine strives to return all its citizens and continues to work for this.

Just yesterday, Lubinets claimed that Russia does not agree to the exchange of prisoners of war, accusing Ukraine of this and spreading propaganda "dumps" among the relatives of the prisoners. He noted that the Russians are doing this on purpose to split Ukrainian society.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War specified that it was possible to return: 130 representatives of the Armed Forces, including 14 from the Territorial Defense units, 14 from the Navy; 55 National Guardsmen; 38 border guards; one policeman; six civilians.

Among those returned were those who had the official status of prisoners of war, as well as those who were considered missing.

This exchange became the largest in terms of the number of defenders returned since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.

On November 28, 2023, a representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that Russia suspended the exchange of prisoners in order to influence Ukrainian society.

The last exchange of prisoners took place on August 7, 2023, when 22 Ukrainian soldiers were returned from Russian captivity.