Ukraine and Russia conducted their first prisoner exchange of the year with Ukraine bringing home 25 Ukrainian men and women from captivity, reportedly returning an equal number to Russia.
“These are our soldiers and civilians,” President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on social media Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 15.
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The repatriated military personnel included soldiers, sailors, and sergeants that defended the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk regions, as well as the city of Mariupol, including Azovstal, Zelensky’s statement reads.
“We also managed to bring back wounded Ukrainian servicemen from the Kursk region,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported.
“The youngest of those freed is 24 years old. The oldest is 60. These people have endured a lot without proper medical care and with inhumane treatment in enemy captivity.”
Among the wounded, the Coordination HQ reported loss of sight, amputations, gunshot wounds, mine-blast injuries, tuberculosis, cancer, and gangrene, “which speaks volumes about the conditions in which our people have to live.”
The repatriated personnel, including National Guard members, Armed Forces of Ukraine (including Territorial Defense), Navy, and Border Guard Service of Ukraine, will receive proper medical care and rehabilitation.
According to the Third Geneva Convention, it is the seriously ill and wounded who should be repatriated first.
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Among those returned was also a civilian, captured in the Kyiv region and “illegally held by the Russians,”
The Coordination Headquarters expressed gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for its help in organizing the prisoner swap.
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