193 Ukrainian soldiers returned from Russian captivity

The returnees include service members of the Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, National Police, and State Special Transport Service who defended Ukraine in various sectors.

Among them are those against whom Russia opened criminal cases, as well as wounded defenders.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said today’s return is a continuation of the Easter exchange.

A distinguishing feature of this exchange is that it brought home men born in the 2000s as well as wounded defenders. Most of those freed were illegally held in Chechnya. Some faced fabricated criminal cases, which violates the Geneva Conventions.

In addition to soldiers and sergeants, several officers were released.

The released service members defended the country in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kursk sectors.

The youngest defender is 24. He was captured in the Donetsk sector in 2023. The oldest released defender is 60. Two service members will celebrate their birthdays today back home.

All those freed will undergo full medical examinations, receive physical and psychological rehabilitation, and get all state-provided payments.

Easter exchange

On April 11, Ukraine and Russia conducted a prisoner exchange. Another 175 service members and seven civilians returned from Russian captivity.

Almost all of those freed — both soldiers and civilian — had been held since 2022.

Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said that on the eve of Easter, Ukraine planned to bring back more people as part of the prisoner exchange, but Russia refused.

Later, the head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, said Ukraine expects the exchange to continue because the Russian side did not manage to prepare a larger swap at once. According to him, the reason was “purely bureaucratic procedures” on Russia’s part.