Soldier celebrating his birthday returns home after being freed from Russian captivity

Soldiers from the Territorial Defense Forces, Marine Corps, Air Assault and Motorized Infantry units, as well as the National Guard and State Guard, have returned home as part of a prisoner exchange.

“There are those who have been in captivity since the first months of the full-scale invasion — that is, for more than three years. The oldest released person is 63 years old. A defender whose birthday is today is also returning home,” said Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner.

He added that the soldier is turning 45.

Earlier on June 19, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the latest prisoner exchange. According to him, Ukrainian defenders who fought in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv and Kyiv oblasts were among those freed.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War clarified that a group of seriously ill defenders was released from Russian captivity as part of the Istanbul Agreements.

Each released soldier suffers from serious medical conditions resulting from injury and captivity, officials said. Many are experiencing severe weight loss, dystrophy, ulcers, vision impairment, musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular issues and digestive diseases.