Ukraine and Russia hold new prisoner exchange: who was released

Another prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia took place on Thursday, 19 June. Most of the released Ukrainian military personnel had been in captivity since 2022. This was reported by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Telegram.

Our people are returning home from Russian captivity. These are fighters of the Armed forces of Ukraine, the National guard, the State border service. Most of them have been in captivity since 2022, - said the head of state.

Among those released are defenders who fought in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions. These are servicemen of the Navy, Airborne Assault Troops, Territorial Defence Forces, as well as the National Guard and the State Border Service.

According to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a group of seriously wounded and sick servicemen were returned from captivity.

All those released have severe medical diagnoses, consequences of their wounds and captivity conditions: weight loss, dystrophy, ulcers, vision problems, diseases of the musculoskeletal apparatus and cardiovascular system, diseases of the digestive organs," the headquarters said.

Most of the defenders spent more than three years in captivity, a significant part - participants of the defence of Mariupol. All those released are privates and sergeants.

According to Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, the oldest released is 63 years old. Among them there is a birthday boy - today he turned 45 years old.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that sergeants and privates of border guards and national guards, who had been holding defence in four directions, had returned home. Most of them have been in captivity since 2022, one - since 2024. Now they are waiting for long-term treatment and recovery.

What is known about the exchange

Agreements on a large-scale prisoner exchange were reached during the second round of talks in Istanbul on 2 June. The parties agreed to exchange the wounded, seriously ill, as well as all prisoners between the ages of 18 and 25.

The first stages of the exchange took place on 9, 10, 12 and 14 June. Among those released are defenders who were captured back in 2022, including participants in the defence of Mariupol.

Earlier, Socialportal wrote about the story of Ukrainian human rights defender Maksym Butkevych, who spent more than two years in Russian captivity. Maksym was sentenced to 13 years in the Russian Federation on a trumped-up case, which claimed that he was an extremist who ran a group of far-right radicals. These charges shocked everyone who knew Maksim. He was a human rights activist for decades, co-founder of the organisation Without Borders, and one of the few people in Ukraine who cared about the fate of asylum seekers, refugees, and foreign students who faced arbitrariness, rudeness, and intolerance. He also helped political refugees stemming from authoritarian regimes, primarily Putin's.