Ukrainian authorities announced the return home of 130 prisoners held in Russian captivity as part of an exchange to mark Orthodox Easter, which celebrates Resurrection Sunday.
“A large exchange of prisoners for Easter. We have recovered 130 of us. It happened in several stages in recent days. Military, border guards, national guards, sailors and employees of the special state transport service,” wrote the president of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, on your Telegram account.
Those released include soldiers and officers captured on the Bakhmut, Soledar, Zaporijia and Kherson fronts, he added.
“Ours are returning home. It’s Easter. The essence of this holiday is hope. This is exactly what the relatives of the prisoners who waited for them for so long felt,” said Yermak.
“The lives of our people are of the greatest value to us. Heroes must live,” he added, quoting Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky.
According to the Coordination Office for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the released prisoners are aged between 21 and 58 and some have been injured and have lost limbs.
This institution published photos on its Telegram account in which some of the released prisoners are greeted with hugs upon arrival on Ukrainian territory and pose with the country’s flags after exiting a bus.
Ukrainian authorities have not said how many Russian POWs were released as part of this exchange.
Source: DN
