Ukraine and Russia hold prisoner exchange - 277 Ukrainian servicemen return home

On Saturday, 19 April, Ukraine and Russia held a prisoner exchange with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates. 246 Ukrainian servicemen returned home. The Russians also handed over 31 wounded AFU prisoners of war to Ukraine in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers, calling it a "goodwill gesture". This was reported by the Ukrainian mass media.

Ukraine has returned 246 of its servicemen from Russian captivity, 246 prisoners of war from the Russian Federation were handed over in exchange," the report said.

They include soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service and border guards. They defended Mariupol and other areas in Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya and Luhansk regions.

Most of those we managed to bring back are young people born after the year 2000.

I thank all those who made this return of our people possible. I am especially grateful to the United Arab Emirates for their mediation," Ukraine's predecessor Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the exchange.

This exchange is the fourth this year and the 63rd since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. This year alone, 596 Ukrainians have been returned home from Russian captivity as part of the exchanges and 53 Defenders have been released outside the exchanges.

As part of the negotiation process and exchanges since March 2022, 4,552 Ukrainian citizens have been released by the Coordination Headquarters. Outside the exchanges, an additional 529 people were released from Russian captivity