Youngest defender released from captivity turns 23: he was taken captive at 19
As part of another prisoner exchange, 150 service members and seven civilian Ukrainians have returned to Ukraine.
This was reported by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Censor.NET reports.
Details
"Service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are returning home, including representatives of the Navy, the Ground Forces, the Territorial Defense Forces, the Air Assault Forces, the Air Force, as well as the National Guard of Ukraine and the State Border Guard Service. In addition to soldiers and sergeants, officers were also released.
The released service members defended the country in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Sumy, and Kyiv directions," the statement said.
Most of the freed fighters were taken captive during the defense of Mariupol, the statement said. A National Guard service member who was held captive during the seizure of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant is also returning home.
"139 Ukrainian citizens released today have been in Russian captivity since 2022. A key feature of today’s exchange is that it was possible to bring home Ukrainians who were unlawfully convicted," the Coordination Headquarters said.
Youngest released from captivity
"The youngest released Defender is 23. He was taken captive at the age of 19 during the defense of Mariupol. A Russian court unlawfully sentenced the young man to ‘life imprisonment.’ The oldest defender released today is 63," they added.
Prisoner exchange on February 5
- Earlier, Trump’s special envoy Witkoff said Ukraine and Russia had agreed to exchange 314 prisoners.
- It later became known that Ukraine had brought back 157 Ukrainian defenders and civilians who had been in Russian captivity.
