Five Ukrainians believed killed in 2022 Olenivka attack return home in prisoner exchange
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Ukraine has brought 270 people back from captivity (Photo: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War)
Five Ukrainians previously believed to have been killed in the July 2022 Russian attack on Olenivka were returned to Ukraine in a prisoner exchange, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Oct. 23.
A total of 270 Ukrainians returned home, including service members of the National Guard, among them Azov fighters, border guards, Territorial Defense Forces personnel, and members of the Navy, Ground Forces, Air Assault Forces and State Special Transport Service, as well as nine civilians.
Most of those released had been held in Russian captivity since 2022 and had defended Mariupol. They also included Ukrainian defenders who fought in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv sectors. Many of them had been unlawfully convicted by Russia.
Among those released were 38 officers. Some of the service members had been held captive since 2018 and 2020.
On Aug. 19, Ukraine and Russia carried out the first stage of a prisoner exchange under previous agreements. It was the 77th exchange since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A total of 103 Ukrainian service members returned home.
On Aug. 24, during the second stage of the exchange with Russia, 10 Ukrainian Defense Forces service members returned from captivity. All of them had been considered missing in action.
Overnight on July 29, 2022, Russian occupying forces blew up one of the barracks at Olenivka, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were being held after leaving the Azovstal steel plant. About 50 prisoners were killed and more than 130 were injured. Russia attempted to blame Ukraine for the attack.
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