Ukraine brings home 84 people from Russian captivity, including Mariupol defenders
global.espreso.tv
Thu, 14 Aug 2025 16:14:00 +0300

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this. “We are bringing Ukrainians home, to Ukraine. A new exchange—84 people. These are both military and civilians,” he wrote.The head of state noted that almost all former captives require medical assistance and significant rehabilitation.“Among the civilians released today are those who had been held by the Russians since 2014, 2016, and 2017. Among the soldiers released today are defenders of Mariupol,” Zelenskyy specified.He thanked the Coordination Headquarters, the Main Intelligence Directorate, the President’s Office, and everyone working to bring Ukrainians back from Russian captivity.“I thank the UAE for its help in this exchange. And most importantly, I thank our warriors who replenish Ukraine’s exchange fund at the front every week,” Zelenskyy wrote, announcing more exchanges to come.Who are the Ukrainians freed from Russian captivity?According to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 33 Ukrainian servicemembers and 51 civilians have been freed from Russian captivity. As part of the 67th exchange, those who had been held prisoner since as far back as 2014 have returned home.“The peculiarity of today’s exchange is that we managed to free both civilian and military Ukrainians who had been detained in the temporarily occupied territories even before the full-scale invasion and unlawfully sentenced to long prison terms — from 10 to 18 years. One of the released had been in captivity for 4,013 days — he was taken prisoner in Donetsk region back in 2014,” the statement said.Among those freed are Ukrainians captured and sentenced by the occupiers between 2016 and 2021. The group includes three women from Donetsk and Luhansk regions. One of them, a primary school teacher, was imprisoned in 2019.Also among the civilians released today is a 27-year-old man unlawfully imprisoned by the occupiers in 2016, when he was only 18.In addition to civilians, the freed Ukrainians include defenders from the Mariupol garrison, servicemembers of the Navy, and the State Border Guard Service. Ten officers were among those released.Two pairs of brothers held in captivity since March and April 2022 are also returning home. Most of the freed civilians and servicemembers have health problems and disabilities.The youngest of those released is 26 years old, while the oldest is 74, having spent the last seven years (since 2018) in a Russian prison.The freed Ukrainians will receive full medical assistance. All will undergo medical examinations, receive treatment, be provided with everything necessary for the initial period, obtain the due financial payments, and go through rehabilitation and reintegration into society after long-term isolation in Russian captivity.On July 23, Zelenskyy said that a new prisoner exchange was being prepared.
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