This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Among those released are defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal, as well as servicemen from the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts. Many of them suffer from severe injuries and illnesses.
The president expressed gratitude to those organizing the exchanges and thanked the United Arab Emirates “for their assistance in making today’s event possible”.
In addition to the military personnel, a civilian captured by russians in the Kyiv oblast and unlawfully detained has returned to Ukraine, according to Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War stated that today’s exchange is the result of Ukraine securing a separate format for the return of seriously ill and wounded prisoners.
The freed military personnel include members of the National Guard, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (including Territorial Defense), the Navy, and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. Ukrainian servicemen with injuries were also retrieved from the Kursk oblast.
“The injuries include, among others, loss of vision, limb amputations, severe gunshot wounds, and the consequences of mine-explosion injuries. Among the illnesses are tuberculosis, cancer, and gangrene, which vividly illustrate the conditions our people were forced to endure”, - the Coordination Headquarters reported.
