84 people returned to Ukraine as part of prisoner exchange

Ukraine conducted another exchange with Russia, which resulted in the return of both military personnel and civilians held by the Russians. Among those released are 51 civilians.

This was reported by Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.

Among the released civilians are men and women, including political prisoners and doctors. Some of them had been in captivity since 2015-2016. The oldest of the released civilians is 74 years old. All of them have acute illnesses and need medical care. Soldiers of the Armed Forces and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine have also returned home. There are those who were captured in the first months of the full-scale invasion. A significant part of the released soldiers are officers, and their age ranges from 25 to 49 years old. These defenders also have injuries and illnesses.

According to the Ombudsman, this return was made possible thanks to the coordinated work of government agencies that are part of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The success was achieved thanks to the work of the negotiation teams and with the assistance of the UAE. Employees of the Ombudsperson's Office were traditionally present at the exchange site to monitor compliance with the Geneva Conventions and to communicate with relatives of the detained citizens.

The last defender of Zmiine returned from Russian captivity. On the evening of July 23, the ninth stage of the prisoner exchange was completed. Among the released servicemen is the last of the defenders of Zmiinyi Island, a soldier of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Vitaliy Gyrenko. He had been in captivity for more than three and a half years, since February 2022. Since then, the soldier's family has had no contact with him: his wife said that she was seven months pregnant at the time of his capture, and their son saw his father only in photographs. Earlier in February 2025, in a commentary to Suspilne, Vitaliy Hyrenko's wife said that her husband was the only one who remained in captivity. She learned that Vitaliy was alive later on TV from Russian media.

Катерина Глушко