Ukraine secures freedom for 197 POWs in major exchange
Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Wednesday that 175 Ukrainian defenders had been released from Russian captivity. Additionally, 22 more are returning home through means beyond the usual exchange process. Among them are severely wounded soldiers and individuals whom Russia had prosecuted on fabricated charges.
"All of them will immediately receive the necessary medical and psychological assistance," the Ukrainian president conveyed on social media.
"This is one of the largest POW exchanges. Returning home are our soldiers, sergeants, and officers – warriors who fought for our freedom in the ranks of the Armed Forces, Navy, National Guard, Territorial Defense Forces, and Border Guard Service. They defended Ukraine across various fronts – in Mariupol, at Azovstal, in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, as well as Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Kursk regions," he emphasized.
"I thank our team for their important work in finding Ukrainian prisoners of war and facilitating exchanges, as well as for the results that bring hope. We are also grateful to all our partners, especially the United Arab Emirates, for making today’s exchange possible," Zelensky noted.
"Ukraine remembers every one of our heroes, and we will bring all our people home," he assured.
Trump on the prisoner exchange
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine was set to occur following discussions with Vladimir Putin. The exchange had already been confirmed earlier.
The previous prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine occurred in February. It involved 150 people from each side.
According to data from the Coordination Headquarters for POWs in Kyiv, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has conducted 61 prisoner exchanges, through which 4,131 citizens have returned to their homeland. Additionally, over 7,000 bodies of fallen military personnel have been recovered. These figures do not include Wednesday's exchange.
