Prisoner exchange: Ukraine returns 15 defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal
Kyiv • UNN
As part of the new exchange, Ukraine returned 49 prisoners, including 15 defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal. For the first time in a long time, 23 women, including civilians and military, were released.
Among those returned from captivity as part of the new exchange are 15 defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal. This was reported by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, UNN reports .
Among those released are 23 soldiers and sergeants and 19 officers. Eight are representatives of the Armed Forces (including two from the TRO), two from the National Police, four border guards, 13 sailors, 15 defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal from the National Guard. The remaining seven are civilians.
The liberated defenders defended our land in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson areas.
The Hero of Ukraine, Colonel of the Medical Service Viktor Ivchuk, who was in charge of the military hospital in Mariupol during the most difficult times, is also returning home.
It is noted that this exchange is special because for the first time in a long time, women were released from captivity: 23 of them were released. In particular, these are Ukrainian civilians who were detained and illegally imprisoned by the Russians before the full-scale invasion.
We also managed to release women who had been subjected to inhumane treatment, in particular due to their forced participation in the so-called "trial" of Mariupol defenders.
Crimean Tatar activist Lenia Umerova, who was captured by Russians while crossing the border of Georgia, is released.
According to Interior Minister Yuriy Klymenko, 11 of the 15 released National Guard servicemen are women. Also, 4 officers of the State Border Guard Service and 2 officers of the National Police, as well as KORD fighters from Donetsk region, returned to their homeland. All of them are defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal.
