Ukraine welcomes home 95 defenders from Russian captivity

On July 7, Ukraine managed to return home from Russian captivity 95 of its defenders, including a participant of the "air bridge" who volunteered to fly on a helicopter to "Azovstal" during the siege of Mariupol.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners reported that.

As the head of state noted, Ukraine continues to return its people home.

"We continue to return our people home. Another 95 defenders have been released from Russian captivity. These are soldiers of Ukraine's armed forces, the National Guard, and border guards," Zelensky emphasized.

The President thanked the exchange team, as well as the United Arab Emirates, for mediating this release.

"No matter how difficult it is, we are looking for everyone who may be in captivity. We have to return everyone," the president summarized.

According to the Coordination Headquarters, among those returned there are:

• 49 soldiers of Ukraine's armed forces (including a member of the "air bridge" who volunteered to fly on a helicopter to "Azovstal" to help the units blocked there, and two from the Air Force),
• 21 national guardsmen,
• ten military sailors,
• seven soldiers of the territorial defense forces,
• five border guards,
• two from the State Special Transport Service,
• one defender from the voluntary formation of the territorial community.

It was clarified that all those released this time were men: 88 soldiers and sergeants, seven officers.

The headquarters mentioned that among the military personnel who were finally granted their freedom: 

• 23 individuals defended Mariupol (thirteen of whom were defending "Azovstal"),
• 41 fought in the Donetsk area, 
• nine each fought in Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, 
• three each fought in Kherson and Kharkiv.

^{Photo: Telegeram / Zelensky / Official}

"One of the freed sailors was in the Kyiv region at the time of the invasion and immediately joined the defense of his village against the invaders as part of the Makarov Military District. During the provision of humanitarian aid to the residents of the local community, he was captured by Russian Buryat servicemen," the message reads.

The Coordination Headquarters also emphasized that many returning Ukrainian fighters suffer from the consequences of injuries and have chronic diseases that require long-term treatment. Most of them have been held captive by the aggressor country since 2022.

Also among those released is a defenseman who was considered missing.

"Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, this is already the 54th exchange of prisoners. In total, the Coordination Headquarters managed to return 3,405 people from enemy captivity," the headquarters reported.

For reference:

It's worth mentioning that the POW exchange occurred on June 28, with one of the ten Ukrainian civilians being Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Nariman Dzhelal.

The head of state showed a heartbreaking video about the return of Ukrainian citizens on social networks.

Ukrainian intelligence also revealed the details of the latest exchange of prisoners with Russia. It consisted of two stages, during which 90 soldiers and 10 civilians were returned.The fact that non-military Ukrainians are held in Russian captivity indicates the genocidal nature of Russia's war against Ukraine.