Another 100 defenders released from Russian captivity (photos, video)
9 February 2024 09:33
Ukraine has returned 100 more defenders from Russian captivity, many of whom had been held captive for almost two years. This was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reports 
“Another 100 Ukrainians are at home in Ukraine. The National Guard, border guards, the Armed Forces. Most of them are defenders of Mariupol. All of them are ours, all of them are back in their native land. We are working for each and every one of them and will not stop until we return everyone!”
– zelenskyy said in a statement.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reports that this is the 51st exchange.
The rescued servicemen include 49 soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine, 25 border guards, 26 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including 11 terrorists. All the rescued soldiers are privates and sergeants. 84 of the rescued soldiers were defending Mariupol (including 82 defenders of Azovstal), while the rest performed combat missions in the Donetsk and Luhansk sectors.
“At least 28 of the liberated soldiers are wounded or seriously ill. The oldest was 62 years old and the youngest was 20. We managed to rescue, among others, a medic who had been saving the wounded at Azovstal in extremely difficult conditions, his brothers Mykola and Roman,”
– the statement said.
In total, according to the Coordination Headquarters, since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 3,135 defenders have been released from Russian captivity.
It is noted that the United Arab Emirates participated in the organisation of this exchange.
