Ukraine returns 45 soldiers home from Russian captivity

Ukraine returned 45 soldiers and two civilians from Russian captivity, says the Head of the Office of the President, Andrii Yermak.

"We managed to return home from captivity 45 of our soldiers from the Armed Forces, National Guard, Border Guard, and two civilians," said Andrii Yermak, Rubryka reports. "Among them are two officers, 41 privates and sergeants, a civilian employee of Azovstal Steelworks, and a territorial defense officer from Kherson."

According to Yermak, it was possible to return the defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal Steelworks.

There are wounded soldiers and the military from the Donetsk front, including Bakhmut, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv directions.

Ukrainian children illegally taken to Russia — 6-year-old Renata and 10-year-old Varvara — also returned home. Their mother, a combat medic, was released in a significant exchange in October 2022.

"She and her husband have long been waiting for the return of their children, whom Russia illegally deported, trying to hide the abduction," added Zelensky's chief-of-staff.

As Rubryka reported, according to the data of the Unified Register, approximately 24,000 Ukrainians are missing. President Zelensky said that since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has returned 2,526 Ukrainians from captivity. On June 11, as part of another exchange of prisoners, Ukraine returned another 95 of its defenders.