Ukraine returns 205 soldiers from captivity

Zelenskyy described the freed soldiers as “young guys and grown men from nearly all branches and types of forces,” including defenders of Mariupol and fighters across the frontline.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War detailed that the group included personnel from the Ukrainian Armed Forces—such as Navy, Air Force, Air Assault Troops, and Territorial Defense Forces—as well as the National Guard and State Border Guard Service.

The returnees comprised three officers and 202 soldiers and sergeants who fought in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy, and Kyiv oblasts, including Mariupol’s garrison.

This exchange was the 64th since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, bringing the total number of Ukrainians freed since March 2022 to 4,757.