205 prisoners of war returned to Ukraine

On May 6, Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war and 205 Ukrainian defenders, including 40 soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, returned to Ukraine.

This was reported by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Among the released soldiers are representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including the Navy, Air Force, Air Assault Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, as well as the National Guard of Ukraine and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. Three Ukrainian officers and 202 soldiers and sergeants are returning home.

The liberated defenders defended Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk sectors, in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions, in Kherson, Sumy and Kyiv regions, as well as defenders from the Mariupol garrison.

This exchange is the fifth this year and 64th since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. In total, 4,757 Ukrainian citizens have been released as part of the negotiation process and exchanges since March 2022.

Among the flags handed over to the prisoners upon their return, in addition to the flags of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there were flags of the 79th separate airborne assault brigade of the Tauride.

The last time a large exchange took place was on April 19, on the eve of Easter. Then 277 Ukrainian defenders returned home.

Also, Intent has already written about how Ukraine returned 95 soldiers from Russian captivity. The peculiarity of that exchange was that many Ukrainians returned home who had received so-called "sentences" from the aggressor country's judicial system and were "convicted" 28 to long sentences, and 20 to life imprisonment for defending their own land from the aggressor. Among the released prisoners was journalist, human rights activist, co-founder of Hromadske Radio and the Zmina Human Rights Center Maksym Butkevych.

Photo: Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Кирило Бойко