According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the operation to return the prisoners was the result of the work of the Joint Center for the Coordination of the Search and Release of Prisoners of War, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and other authorized bodies. All acted in accordance with the instructions of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Most of the released soldiers had been held in Russian captivity since 2022. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, more than 6,000 Ukrainians have been returned home since the start of the full-scale invasion. Over 95% of the military personnel who return from captivity report having been subjected to torture. There have also been 177 documented cases of extrajudicial executions, 109 of which occurred in 2024 alone.
Prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and Russia took place this month on June 9, 10, 12, 14, 19, 20, and 26. Some of them were carried out under the Istanbul agreements, which provide for an “all for all” exchange format. This process is expected to continue over the coming days. Notably, on June 19, severely ill soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service were returned.
In previous exchanges, defenders from various regions of Ukraine returned home, including from Mariupol, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv. Today’s return of another group of prisoners has become a significant event both for their families and for the entire country, which continues its fight for every one of its defenders — many of whom still remain in captivity.