Ukraine Frees 160 Defenders in Latest POW Exchange — Once Again, Russia Left Its Foreign Recruits Behind.

Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, acting on the order of the President of Ukraine, has conducted another combined prisoner of war exchange. 160 Ukrainian defenders held in Russian captivity since 2022 have been freed and are returning home.

Among those released are servicemembers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine representing the Ground Forces, Support Forces, Airborne Assault Forces, Territorial Defense, Air Forces, Medical Forces, and Navy, as well as fighters of the National Guard of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service, and the State Border Guard Service.

Those returning home defended Ukraine on the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Kyiv directions. 115 of those freed are defenders of Mariupol. Among the released are 58 officers, in addition to soldiers and sergeants. The youngest freed defender is 26 years old; the oldest is 66.

All freed defenders will receive medical examination, necessary treatment, financial payments, documents, and rehabilitation and reintegration support following their prolonged captivity in Russian hands.

Over the full period of its operation, the Coordination Headquarters has returned 9,606 military personnel and civilians from Russian captivity. Ukraine expresses gratitude to the United States of America and the United Arab Emirates for their important mediation and facilitation of the exchange.

Russia Returns No Foreign Recruits - Again

It is worth noting that during this exchange, no foreign nationals recruited by Russia were returned from captivity. Russia has shown no interest in repatriating its foreign recruits - people it recruited through coercion or deception and treated as expendable material, sending them into human wave assaults against Ukrainian positions.

Diplomatic pressure on the Russian government is the way to unlock the return of foreign recruits held in prisoner of war camps. To draw global attention to this issue, StopRussianRecruiters.org publishes profiles of foreign nationals captured in Ukraine.

Source: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War