Zelensky: Over 1,300 Ukrainian POWs Freed in Exchanges with Moscow

More than 1,300 Ukrainian prisoners have been freed in prisoner-of-war swaps with Russia since the war began in February, the president announced today Volodymyr Zelensky after another such exchange between Kiev and Moscow.

“We won’t stop until we get them all back. After today’s exchange, 1,319 heroes have already returned to their homes,” the Ukrainian president said on Telegram.

According to Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak, “50 defenders of Ukraine were released” today, including “defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal,” the steelworks in this port city in southern Ukraine that was mercilessly bombed in the spring by the Russian military before falling into his hands.

Yermak stressed that “prisoners held at Olenivka,” a Russian-controlled prison in eastern Ukraine, were also released.

This prison had been bombed at the end of July, which had caused the death of many Ukrainian prisoners of war. Kyiv and Moscow have denied responsibility for the bombing.

Yermak accompanied his social media post with photos showing men in military uniforms, others in civilian clothes, some holding Ukrainian flags.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the exchange, saying 50 Russian prisoners of war released by Kyiv were in Ukraine in “life-threatening captivity”.

Russia and Ukraine have held several prisoner-of-war exchanges since the Russian invasion began in February. But the two camps have repeatedly accused each other of abusing prisoners.

In a report published in mid-November, the UN said that Ukrainian prisoners of war were “systematically” tortured by Russian forces and that witnesses also reported cases of ill-treatment by the Ukrainian side.

On October 20, Russia announced that it was holding “more than 6,000 Ukrainian prisoners,” a number that AFP could not verify and Kyiv did not comment.

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