On June 5, another exchange of detainees took place between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. According to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 185 Ukrainian service members and one civilian citizen of Ukraine, who had been held in Russian captivity since 2022, returned to Ukraine.
This marks the 75th prisoner exchange since the beginning of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Those released include members of various branches of Ukraine’s Defense Forces, including the Navy, Ground Forces, Air Assault Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, Special Operations Forces, and the Military Law Enforcement Service. Personnel from the National Guard of Ukraine and the State Border Guard Service were also among those returned.
According to the Coordination Headquarters, the released individuals include defenders of Mariupol and participants in the defense of the Azovstal steel plant. They had been involved in military operations in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kyiv, and Kursk sectors.
More than half of the released prisoners of war had been held in Russian captivity since 2022. Some spent more than four years in detention. Among those returned is a participant in the helicopter mission that supplied the Azovstal garrison during the spring of 2022.
The released individuals range in age from 26 to 62 years old and include enlisted personnel, non-commissioned officers, and officers.
The return of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees remains one of the key humanitarian issues arising from the armed conflict. Human rights organizations continue to emphasize the need for regular exchanges and the unconditional return of all Ukrainian citizens unlawfully detained by the Russian Federation.
Ukrainian authorities previously reported providing the Russian Federation with exchange lists containing more than 800 individuals. However, the release process remains uneven and dependent on the position of the Russian side. Human rights advocates have repeatedly reported violations by the Russian Federation of international humanitarian law, including provisions of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of prisoners of war and civilians during armed conflicts.
International and Ukrainian human rights organizations have also highlighted concerns regarding restricted access for independent humanitarian missions to detention facilities, the lack of comprehensive information on detainees’ health conditions, and cases of prolonged detention without adequate communication with the outside world. In this context, they continue to call on the Russian Federation to fulfill its obligations under international law and ensure respect for the rights of all detained persons.