Today, July 23, the ninth stage of the large prisoner exchange took place. Within the framework of the agreements reached in Istanbul, more than 1,000 defenders have already been released.
This was announced by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Seriously ill and seriously wounded defenders are returning home. We can already talk about the details — over all stages of the latest Istanbul agreements, more than 1,000 of our people have been returned,” Zelenskyy wrote.
According to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a group of defenders with injuries and serious illnesses was released from Russian captivity today. Among them: servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular from units of the State Border Guard, Navy, and Territorial Defense Forces, as well as fighters of the State Border Service, National Guard, and National Police of Ukraine.
In addition to the soldiers and non-commissioned officers, officers were also released. Some of the soldiers released today were captured during the defense of Mariupol and spent more than three years in captivity. Ukrainians who fought in the Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv directions were returned. The youngest released defender was 27 years old, the oldest was 66 years old.
Also, the last of the defenders of Zmiiniy Island, a soldier of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, returned from captivity today.
“The defenders will undergo the necessary medical examination, receive assistance with physical and psychological rehabilitation, as well as all due payments for the entire time they were in captivity,” the message says.
