"Our people are coming home from russian captivity. These are warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service. Most of them had been in captivity since 2022. Defenders of Ukraine who fought in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kyiv oblasts", - said President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 19.
"We are working on bringing our people back. Thank you to everyone who helps make these exchanges possible. Our goal is to free every one of them", - he emphasized.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War clarified that today another stage of a large prisoner exchange in the "seriously ill and wounded" category took place according to agreements reached in Istanbul.
"Each Defender released today has serious medical diagnoses and illnesses resulting from injuries and captivity. Many suffer from significant weight loss, dystrophy, ulcers, vision problems, musculoskeletal diseases, cardiovascular issues, and digestive disorders. Most of the released warriors were in captivity for over three years. A significant portion of them were captured during the defense of Mariupol. All of today’s released Defenders are from the ranks of enlisted and sergeant personnel", - the statement reads.
It is emphasized that the Defenders released from captivity will undergo all necessary medical examinations, receive physical and psychological rehabilitation assistance, and receive all payments due to them for the entire time spent in captivity.
The Coordination Headquarters continues its work and is already preparing the next stage of POW exchange, the statement says.
