Odesa residents march through the streets in support of prisoners of war

A peaceful rally in support of prisoners of war and missing servicemen was held in Odesa on January 26 with the participation of 60 people.

This is a weekly action that takes place every Sunday, according to Suspilne. Odesa".

"Do not be silent - captivity kills", "Freedom for every prisoner", "I am the voice of the missing". The protesters came to one of the central streets of Odesa with these posters. They lined up along the road to draw the attention of drivers to the problem of missing and captured Ukrainian defenders.

The participants of the action walked along the central streets of the city, chanting slogans about captivity and missing persons. During the march, the convoy was accompanied by representatives of the Dialogue Police. On European Square, the convoy stopped to observe a minute of silence in memory of those who died defending Ukraine and to lay flowers to their portraits.

Earlier on Wednesday, January 15, 25 citizens, including military personnel and civilians, returned to Ukraine during another exchange with Russia. According to him, the released people include defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal, as well as Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Many of them have serious injuries or serious illnesses.

On New Year's Eve, 189 Ukrainians returned from captivity. In total, 3,956 people have returned from Russian captivity as part of the work of the Coordination Center, including 1,358 prisoners released in 2024. This was the eleventh exchange in 2024.

Later it became known that nine marines from two Mykolaiv units had returned from enemy captivity. Among them are soldiers who were captured while defending Mariupol. Also, 7 soldiers from Kherson region were released from captivity.

Earlier, Ukraine returned 95 soldiers from Russian captivity. The peculiarity of this exchange is that many Ukrainians are returning home who 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.

In September, 49 heroes and heroines returned home. Among them are 23 women who were illegally detained by Russia. This is the largest number of women exchanged in recent times. In August, 22 prisoners of war were returned to Ukraine. In July, 45 of our prisoners were returned to Ukraine. Among them are soldiers of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service and two civilians. In June, 95 of our people were returned to Ukraine. The list includes soldiers of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and border guards.

Кирило Бойко