25 серпня 2024 р. 14:02

Three border guards of Kherson detachment returned from Russian captivity

(Photo: freeze frame of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine video)

As a result of the 55th exchange of prisoners, which took place on August 24, Ukraine returned three servicemen of the 79th Kherson Border Guard Detachment from Russian captivity.

This was reported by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

According to the SBGS, the soldiers were taken prisoner on February 24, 2022, at the Chongar checkpoint on the administrative border between Kherson region and the temporarily occupied Crimea. Their names are currently unknown.

"The guys from the Kherson border guard detachment spent two and a half years in Russian captivity! To prevent our defenders from knowing anything about Ukraine, the Russians took away their Ukrainian books and only occasionally showed them something from the news," the statement reads.

According to the Coordination Headquarters, most of the liberated soldiers have health problems due to injuries and conditions of captivity. Now the former prisoners will undergo a medical examination, receive treatment, psychological assistance and payments.

Earlier, Ukraine returned 115 servicemen from Russian captivity, including Ukrainian soldiers who took part in heavy battles for Gostomel and the reserve command post of the General Staff in Kyiv region. Also, six National Guardsmen from the garrison guarding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as soldiers who defended Kyiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, returned home.

Earlier, Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Nariman Dzhelal was returned from Russian captivity. The FSB opened a case against him in the fall of 2021. He and his brothers Asan and Aziz Akhtemov were accused of blowing up a gas pipeline in Crimea. After his arrest, Dzhelial was placed in a "special block" of the Simferopol detention center with a strict regime - frequent cell inspections, separate walks and visits to the medical unit, constant video monitoring.

In total, Ukraine has released 3,520 people from Russian captivity.