Military personnel under 25, including Mariupol defenders, returned to Ukraine in today’s prisoner exchange – Coordination HQ
On Thursday, June 26, the next stage of the large-scale prisoner exchange under the Istanbul agreements took place. A group of defenders under the age of 25, as well as wounded defenders and those with health issues, were returned to their homeland.
This was reported by the Coordination Headquarters for Prisoner of War Affairs, as cited by Censor.NET.
Service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine returned home, including representatives of the Navy, Ground Forces, Air Assault Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, as well as fighters from the National Guard of Ukraine and the State Border Guard Service.
The vast majority of the released defenders had been held captive for over three years. A significant portion of them were captured during the defense of Mariupol.
"The specific feature of today’s exchange stage is that we managed to bring home young warriors. The youngest Defender is 24 years old; he was captured during the defense of Mariupol in April 2022 at the age of 21. We also freed National Guard soldiers who guarded the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The oldest Defender returned home is 62 years old," the Coordination Headquarters said.
Among the Ukrainian defenders released today are officers.
In total, those returning home defended the country in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Kherson, Kyiv, and Sumy directions.
The headquarters added that the freed defenders will undergo necessary medical examinations, receive physical and psychological rehabilitation assistance, as well as all due payments for the entire period of captivity.
