Details of the 58th prisoner-of-war exchange with Russian Federation revealed

Ukraine on Friday, 18 October, held the 58th exchange of prisoners of war with the Russian side, as a result of which 95 Ukrainian defenders returned home. This was reported by the Coordination Headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war, as well as by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Telegram.

It is indicated that to the homeland this time returned: national guardsmen, military sailors, soldiers of the AFU, border guards and representatives of other units of the Security and Defence Forces.

These are soldiers who defended Mariupol, Donbass, Lugansk, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Kherson regions. Among the released - 69 soldiers and sergeants and 26 officers, - indicated in the headquarters.

The ministry said that the "peculiarity" of this exchange is that Ukrainians who received so-called "sentences" and were "convicted" in the Russian Federation also returned home.

At the same time, the coordination headquarters pointed out that many of those released had serious illnesses and consequences of severe injuries, as well as weight loss due to torture and malnutrition.

The Ukrainian president posted on his website a video of the Ukrainian defenders returning to their homeland.

In his turn, the commander of the Azov brigade, Denys "Redis" Prokopenko, said that during the last prisoner-of-war exchange, 34 Azov servicemen who defended Mariupol returned home. About this he wrote in Facebook.

In times of heavy fighting, such news gives the personnel of the 12th brigade "Azov" strength and raises morale. "34 more soldiers of Azov returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity," he wrote.

Prokopenko pointed out that many of those who returned - spent 2.5 years in Russian captivity. And also recalled their feat, when they stood in defence of Mariupol.

Thanks to the fighters of the Mariupol garrison, Ukraine withstood the first blow in the spring of 2022, - wrote the commander.

He recalled that about 900 fighters of "Azov" remain in Russian prisons and promised to do everything possible to ensure that the rest of the fighters also returned home.

"Azov" published photos and videos with its twin fighters.

As Suspilne wrote, among those who were returned from captivity is Azov activist Andriy Bohdan.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he took part in the battles for Mariupol and the defence of Azovstal. Last contacted on 15 May 2022 from Mariupol. In August 2023, a "court" in occupied Donetsk sentenced Andriy Bohdan to 25 years in prison. Andriy was held captive for 29 months. His father was a military man of the 10th separate mountain assault brigade "Edelweiss". He died on 27 October 2023 in hospital from a stroke as a result of severe injuries after being wounded at the front. Andrei Bogdan's brother Anatoly is now continuing his service in the Defence Forces.

Also among those who returned are two brothers, two marines - Stanislav and Anton. Their mother came to meet them. She had not seen her children for two years.

Ivan, the defender of Azovstal, was met by his fiancée. She had been waiting for her beloved for more than two years.

Denis, who defended Mariupol, was met by his mother. He was in captivity for 2.5 years.

For some, the return of their loved ones came as a surprise.

The ones no one met - called home to say they loved them and would be there soon.

And the warriors also confessed that they were very scared, that they were dreaming it all, and that there would never really be a home.

For his part, Dmytro Lubinets, commenting on the 58th prisoner exchange, said that 3,767 Ukrainians had been returned from Russian captivity since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. He also specified that all Ukrainians who return to their homeland need physical and psychological rehabilitation.

Lubinets also specified that the exchange took place with the mediation of the UAE.

Together with other state bodies we work every day to bring all our people home. I am grateful to the Coordstab for the treatment of prisoners of war, the Joint Centre for the Coordination of the Search and Release of Prisoners of War, illegally deprived of their freedoms as a result of the aggression against Ukraine, the SBU and other state bodies for their work. The exchange took place with the mediation of the UAE," he added.

Ukraine is known to be in favour of the "all-for-all" exchange format. However, as Kiev emphasises, the negotiations with Moscow are going extremely hard.