Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners of war. Civilians were also returned – photos

Ukraine has returned 205 military and civilians from Russian captivity. This was reported by and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The 185 returned soldiers include privates, sergeants and two officers. They are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Navy, Army, Terrorist Defense, Air Assault Forces), the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service.

The Coordination Headquarters noted that some of the prisoners were exchanged in accordance with the agreements in Istanbul, and the other part was part of the 69th exchange. The youngest released defender was 26 years old, and the oldest was 59 years old .

The military took part in the battles for Mariupol and Azovstal, and for the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. They also defended Ukraine on the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv, Sumy and Chernihiv directions.

Most of them had been in captivity since 2022. We also managed to free 20 civilians. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has managed to return home more than 7000 citizens.

The Russian side said it also received 185 of its soldiers.

• The previous prisoner exchange took place more than a month ago – on August 24, military and civilians were returned, including journalist Dmytro Khilyuk.
• On August 14, Ukraine returned 84 people from Russian captivity. Some of them had been in captivity for more than 10 years.
• On September 20, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine is negotiating with Russia to exchange 1000 prisoners.