Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced another prisoner exchange with Russia on August 14. Today, 84 Ukrainian civilians and military citizens returned home.
Points of attention
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces a successful exchange with Russia, bringing home 84 Ukrainian civilians and military citizens in need of medical care and rehabilitation.
- The prisoner exchange included individuals detained by Russians since 2014, 2016, and 2017, with most requiring medical attention and significant rehabilitation.
- The Coordination Headquarters highlighted the uniqueness of this exchange, freeing those held in occupied territories even before full-scale invasion, including individuals sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
84 Ukrainians returned home from Russian captivity
Zelenskyy noted that almost all of them need medical attention and significant rehabilitation.
Among the civilians released today are those who were held by the Russians since 2014, 2016, and 2017. Among the military personnel released today are the defenders of Mariupol. I am grateful to everyone who is helping us continue to release Ukrainian prisoners.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
The President thanked the prisoner return team — everyone in the Coordination Headquarters, the DIU, the Office, and in special services who are working for the return of our people.
Thank you to the UAE for your help in this exchange. And most importantly, thank you to our soldiers who replenish the exchange fund for Ukraine every week at the front. The courage and efficiency of our units on the front line is also the opportunity to return our people home. There will be more exchanges.
The peculiarity of today's exchange, the Coordination Headquarters noted, is that it was possible to free Ukrainian civilians and military personnel who were detained in the temporarily occupied territories even before the full-scale invasion and illegally sentenced to long terms of imprisonment — from 10 to 18 years.
One of the released people spent 4,013 days in captivity — he was enslaved in the Donetsk region back in 2014.
Ukrainians captured and convicted by the occupiers from 2016 to 2021 are also returning to their homeland.
Among those released are three women from Donetsk and Luhansk regions. One of them is a primary school teacher who was imprisoned in 2019.
Among the Ukrainian civilians released today is a 27-year-old boy who was illegally deprived of his liberty by the occupiers in 2016. At that time, he was only 18 years old.
