Ukraine returned 95 military personnel from Russian captivity

Today, July 17, 95 Ukrainian soldiers were returned from Russian captivity.

This was announced by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

«We continue to return our people home. Another 95 defenders were released from Russian captivity. These are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, border guards,» wrote Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that among the freed Ukrainians were 88 privates and sergeants and seven officers.

In particular, 49 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, among them the volunteers of the «air bridge», who flew a helicopter to «Azovstal».

Two pilots are also among the dismissed. 21 National Guardsmen, 10 military sailors, seven Teroboronovists, five border guards, two soldiers from the State Special Service of Transport and one defender from the voluntary formation of the territorial community were also released.

In addition, 23 freed people defended Mariupol (13 of them were «Azovstal» defenders), others fought in the Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia areas.

Among those released was also the Mykolaiv marines of the 36th OBrMP, which defended Mariupol. This was announced on the official page of the brigade.

«The prisoner exchange operation ended today, as a result of which the Ukrainian marines were freed! Among them is our Mykolaiv marine, who courageously defended Mariupol, in particular the plant named after Illich We congratulate our brothers on their return to the free Ukrainian land! We are proud of their feat and rejoice together with the families and loved ones of our soldiers,» the message reads.

The exchange took place with the assistance of the United Arab Emirates.

It will be recalled that Ukraine returned 230 of its military and civilian citizens from Russian captivity. Of them, 130 are soldiers of the Armed Forces, 55 are of the National Guard, 38 are border guards, one policeman and six civilians. 48 exchanged had the status of «disappeared».

Also, on January 3, the first exchange of prisoners of war took place in 2024. Two servicemen of the 36th separate brigade of marines named after Rear-Admiral Mykhailo Bilinskyi, based in Mykolaiv, were released from Russian prisons.

It was previously reported that as a result of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, 4,337 people were captured by Russia, including 3,574 military personnel and 763 civilians.