Major POW exchange between Ukraine and Russia, sentence for the commandant of Izolyatsia prison: January 3 highlights
Ukraine returned 230 service members and civilians from Russian captivity; the Kyiv court sentenced the commandant of Izolyatsia prison to 15 years imprisonment. Here are the main news for January 3.
Major POW exchange
Ukraine returned 230 service members and civilians from Russian captivity. This was the largest exchange of prisoners of war since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that the January 3 exchange is the largest in terms of the number of returned service members. Among the returned are:
- 130 service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including 14 Territorial Defense Forces members and 14 Ukrainian Navy;
- 55 National Guard members;
- 38 border guards
- 1 police officer;
- 6 civilians who were illegally deprived of their liberty.
The Coordination Headquarters added that 182 returned Ukrainians had official PoW status, confirmed through the International Committee of the Red Cross. Another 48 defenders were considered missing. 225 of the released service members are men, another 5 are women.
"After exhausting months of captivity, a combat medic from the 36th Marine Brigade returned. While in captivity, she spoke Ukrainian as a matter of principle. The Russians imitated her transfer for exchange several times, but eventually returned her to the place of detention," the statement said.
Also, seven defenders of Snake Island, a musician of a military orchestra, a servicewoman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who was imprisoned by Russians while on maternity leave, National Guardsmen who were captured while performing their duties at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, a civilian teacher at the Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, and Mariupol defenders returned home.
Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets also noted that 2828 defenders have already been returned home as of January 3, 2024.
Sentence to the commandant of Izolyatsia prison
Shevchenkivskiy District Court of Kyiv sentenced Denis Kulikovsky to 15 years imprisonment. He was the commandant of Izolyatsia prison, where Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war were held and tortured.
In June 2014, armed representatives of the self-proclaimed DPR invaded the Izolyatsia Foundation site and turned it into a prison.
Russian shelling of Ukraine
Russian forces shelled from artillery the village of Sadove in Kherson Oblast on the morning of January 3. One of the shells hit a residential building. A local resident died under the rubble of the house. In the afternoon, the occupiers attacked the village of Novotyanka in Kherson Oblast, killing a man.
Russia also launched a missile attack on the residential area of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast on January 3. The attack killed a 51-year-old man and injured a 50-year-old woman.
Other news
- Search and rescue operation in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv has officially ended. Russian heavy missile attack on Kyiv on December 29 killed 30 people.
- Norway handed over two F-16 fighter jets for training Ukrainian pilots in Denmark. The country also sends ten instructors to Denmark.
- Russia's ruling United Russia party intensified recruitment to the private military company "Espanyola".
- NATO will hold an emergency NATO-Ukraine Council requested by Ukraine in response to Russia's mass air strikes.
- Share: