At 5:00 p.m. on May 23, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced an exchange of prisoners of war with Russia. So far, 390 Ukrainian defenders have returned home.
Points of attention
- 390 Ukrainian defenders have returned home from Russian captivity as part of the '1000 for 1000' exchange, marking a significant milestone in the efforts to bring all captured individuals back to Ukraine.
- President Zelensky announced the successful implementation of the exchange agreement, emphasizing the importance of returning all Ukrainians from captivity and expressing gratitude to those involved in the process.
- The exchange of prisoners of war was initiated after a meeting in Turkey and is seen as a crucial step towards reuniting all individuals held captive.
390 Ukrainian defenders returned from Russian captivity
Zelenskyy noted that this is only part of the previously announced "1000 for 1000" exchange.
We are bringing our people home. The first part of the 1,000-for-1,000 agreement has been implemented. This agreement was reached at a meeting in Turkey, and it is important to implement it fully.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
Today — 390 people. Saturday and Sunday — we expect the exchange to continue.
The President thanked everyone involved in the exchange.
Thank you to everyone who helps, who works 24/7 to ensure that Ukrainians return home. It is very important to return everyone who is in captivity. We are checking every last name, information on every person.
Let us continue our diplomatic work to make such steps possible.
390 Ukrainians - 270 military and 120 civilians - are returning home from Russian captivity.
270 Defenders are returning home - these are servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including the Navy, the State Border Guard, the Territorial Defense Forces, as well as the National Guard of Ukraine and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
The released defenders defended our land in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, Kherson directions, and also participated in battles in Chernihiv, Sumy and Kyiv regions.
Among those released today are 3 women and 387 men.
