President Zelenskyy: Prisoner exchanges are made possible by capturing occupiers

"We managed to free more than 200 of our people - soldiers and civilians - from Russian captivity. There was a long pause in the exchanges, but there was no pause in the negotiations on the exchanges," he said during the evening video address.

The president added that Kyiv uses every opportunity and attempts all options to free its people. According to him, at every international meeting, Ukraine raises the issue of the return of prisoners.

Zelensky thanked his entire team who worked on the exchange, as well as the military personnel who captured the Russian soldiers used in the exchange.

“Of course, I thank each and every one of our soldiers on the front lines who take the occupiers prisoner and replenish our exchange fund. The more Russians we capture, the more effective the negotiations on exchanges will be," he said.

Earlier, Zelenskyi reported that Ukraine returned 230 military and civilians from Russian captivity.

According to him, in particular, soldiers who defended Mariupol and Azovstal, as well as soldiers of the Armed Forces, the Navy, the National Guard, and border guards, were returned from captivity.

This is the first public exchange of prisoners in six months. Before that, at the beginning of August 2023, Ukraine returned home 22 Ukrainian soldiers.