Kyiv: Russia and Ukraine on Thursday announced a prisoner of war exchange involving the return of 45 soldiers from both sides. 45 Russian servicemen had been returned from Ukrainian custody, said Russia’s defence ministry according to state news agency RIA.
Ukrainian presidential staff head, Andriy Yermak also said that 45 service personnel and two civilians had been returned to Ukraine, reported Reuters. Some of those freed had fought in Mariupol and the southern city’s Azovstal steel plant, and others had fought on the frontline elsewhere, Yermak said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
“Each of them is a hero,” Yermak said.
Most of the servicement freed were “seriously injured” and all would undergo rehabilitation, said Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets.
