Another 116 Ukrainians returned home from Russian captivity — Yermak
Another 116 Ukrainians were released from captivity (Photo:Андрій Єрмак / Telegram)
Russia and Ukraine have conducted a new exchange of war prisoners, with 116 Ukrainians returned from Russian captivity, including defenders of Mariupol, Kherson partisans, and snipers from the Bakhmut area, head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram on Feb. 4.
Among the released POWs were also 87 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (including two from the Special Operations Forces), eight soldiers of the Territorial Defense, seven from the National Guard, six from the National Police, five employees of the State Border Guard Service, two from the Navy and one representative of the State Emergency Service.
Ukraine's SBU security service has published a video documenting the release of the Ukrainian prisoners of war on Feb. 4.
In total, two officers and 114 privates and sergeants were returned.
Also, the Ukrainian military managed to return the bodies of the dead foreign volunteers — 28-year-old Christopher Matthew Perry and Andrew Tobias Matthew, as well as the body of the dead volunteer soldier — a Ukrainian who had served in the French Foreign Legion and returned to defend Ukraine after the start of a full-scale Russian invasion — 23-year-old Yevhen Kulyk.
“We continue to work. We will return everyone,” Yermak wrote.
The Russian side also announced the exchange of prisoners, mentioning the return of 63 servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that among the released Russians there are persons of a “sensitive category.”
The Russian agency says that the exchange took place with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates.
According to the President’s Commissioner for Ensuring the Rights of Defenders of Ukraine, more than three thousand Ukrainian servicemen remain in Russian captivity. Another 15,000 people are considered missing.
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