On January 3, Ukraine conducted the largest exchange of prisoners of war during the full-scale invasion, as reported by President Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram.
"Our people are home. Over 200 of our soldiers and civilians have returned from russian captivity. Soldiers, sergeants, officers – warriors from the Armed Forces, National Guard, Navy, and border guards. Some of the defenders were protecting Mariupol and Azovstal", - he noted.
The Coordination Headquarters for Prisoner of War Affairs highlighted that the exchange on January 3 was the largest in terms of the number of returned defenders. In total, 230 Ukrainians were liberated, including:
130 representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including 14 from the territorial defense and 14 from the Navy;
55 National Guard members;
38 border guards;
1 police officer;
6 civilians who were unlawfully deprived of their freedom.
Zelensky had previously stated that the prisoner of war exchange process was delayed due to specific reasons on the part of the russian federation.