On October 23, Ukraine brought home 270 people from Russian captivity, including military personnel and nine civilians. Most of those released had been held since 2022, and a significant number of them had defended Mariupol.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this.
Those who returned home include members of the National Guard, including Azov fighters, border guards, territorial defense troops, personnel of the Naval Forces, Ground Forces, Air Assault Forces and the State Special Transport Service.
Nine civilians were also released.
According to Zelenskyy, most of the returning service members had defended Mariupol. The group also includes Ukrainian defenders who fought in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv sectors.
Many of them had been convicted in Russia.
Among those who returned to Ukraine are also five people who had been believed killed in the Russian attack on Olenivka in July 2022.
Zelenskyy thanked everyone involved in prisoner exchanges, as well as Ukrainian troops who help replenish Ukraine’s exchange fund.
