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Posted On

10
April
2023

100 Ukrainians, incl defenders of Mariupol, returned according to swap procedure – Yermak

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KYIV. April 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, announced the return of 100 Ukrainians from Russian captivity as part of the exchange procedure, including servicemen who defended Mariupol, Donetsk region and Hostomel, Kyiv region.

“We managed to conduct another large prisoner exchange. We are returning home 100 of our people: these are military, sailors, border guards, National guardsmen. Among them there are defenders of Mariupol, Azovstal, Hostomel. Some people have been seriously injured, have diseases,” Yermak wrote on Telegram on Monday.

According to him, everything necessary will be done so that each of the wounded will receive the necessary assistance.

The head of the President’s Office noted that the exchange was not easy. “I am grateful to the whole team, the Coordination Headquarters on the Treatment of Prisoners of War for everyone doing what often may seem impossible to many,” he wrote.

“The task of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to return all our people. For him, this issue is key and one of the priorities,” Yermak added.

As reported on the Telegram channel of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 80 of the released are men, 20 are women. Nine of the total number of those released are officers, the rest are representatives of the rank and file and non-commissioned officers. The youngest is 19 years old.

“We managed to release 24 National guardsmen, 22 border guards, 22 representatives of the Naval Forces, 21 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and 11 defenders of merged territorial communities. The released male and female Defenders participated in the battles in Kherson, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kyiv, Zaporizhia and Sumy directions. Among our heroes are the defenders of Mariupol, Bakhmut and Hostomel, as well as the defenders of Chonhar, Snake Island, ZNPP and Chornobyl NPP,” the message says.

Almost half of the released prisoners have serious injuries, illnesses or were tortured, the Coordination Headquarters said.