Ukraine and Russia reached an agreement on Sunday on the handover of 94 Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine and 95 Ukrainian servicemen detained in Russian prisons, the two sides announced.
The Russian military “returned from Kiev regime-controlled territory, where they were in captivity and in mortal danger,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement carried by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
The soldiers will be transferred to the Defense Ministry’s health facilities “for treatment and rehabilitation,” Moscow said.
“All those released will receive the necessary medical and psychological assistance,” he added.
kyiv, for its part, announced the return of 93 privates, sergeants and two officers as part of the prisoner exchange.
“The list includes soldiers from the Armed Forces, the National Guard and border guards,” Ukrainian Presidency spokesman Andri Yermak said in a statement posted on Telegram.
The liberated servicemen were captured in Mariupol, Chernobyl, Snake Island, Bakhmut and Azovstal. Some of them had arrived by helicopter at the Azovstal factory complex to support the Ukrainian forces resisting there, when it was already surrounded by the Russians.
The Ukrainian authorities stressed that many of the released soldiers have injuries, some of them serious, sustained during their period of captivity and that some were detained by the Wagner mercenary group and by Chechen units.
One of the released prisoners has lost 30 kilos of weight and others are sick.
“They will be able to reunite with their families once they have completed the necessary rehabilitation,” Ukrainian authorities said.
To date, around 2,500 Ukrainian servicemen captured by Russian forces have been released, but the total number of prisoners of war is unknown.
Source: TSF
