Ukraine Brings Home 270 Defenders and Civilians in New Prisoner Swap

A new prisoner exchange on Friday, October 23, brought 270 soldiers and civilians back to Ukraine from Russian captivity. Among them are five people who had been believed dead in the Russian attack on Olenivka in July 2022, as well as defenders of Mariupol.

Zelensky: "270 of our people are home"

President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media: "270 of our people are home. A very important result. National Guardsmen, including Azov fighters, border guards, territorial defense soldiers, soldiers of the Navy, Ground Forces, Air Assault Forces and the State Special Transport Service, as well as nine civilians, are returning home. Most of them had been in captivity since 2022."

According to Zelensky, most of those freed are soldiers who defended Ukraine in Mariupol. Defenders from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv areas are also returning, he said, citing the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

"Many were illegally convicted in Russia. Among those returning are five people who were believed killed in the Russian terrorist attack in Olenivka in July 2022," the president wrote.

Previous exchange

Ukraine and Russia last swapped prisoners of war in August, when 103 servicemen from the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy, the Territorial Defense and the State Border Guard Service returned to Ukraine.

Our World section has more on the war and efforts to bring prisoners home.