Oleg Davygora22:32, 23.07.25

Seriously ill and seriously wounded soldiers returned.

Today, the ninth stage of the exchange, agreed upon in Istanbul , took place . This was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Seriously ill and seriously injured defenders are returning home. We can already talk about the details – during all stages of the latest Istanbul agreements, we managed to return more than 1,000 of our people. For thousands of families, it is a joy to hug their loved ones again. Thank you to everyone who worked on this,” he wrote.

According to him, the soldiers returning today defended Ukraine on various fronts, and a significant number had been in captivity for over three years.

“It is important that the exchanges continue and our people return home. Thank you to everyone who continues this extremely important work. Returning all of our people is a priority for the state. And we will continue all efforts to ensure that all of our people return from captivity,” Zelenskyy added.

According to the Central Military District, Ukrainian defenders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the State Border Service, and the National Police have returned home – among them the wounded, the seriously ill, as well as the defenders of Mariupol and the last of the defenders of Zmiiniy Island.

Some soldiers spent more than three years in Russian captivity. The youngest released was 27 years old, the oldest was 66.

Prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and the Russian Federation

Another prisoner exchange with Russia took place on July 4. Most of the defenders released today had been in Russian captivity since 2022.

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinets, said that this exchange had several features. First, servicemen who were considered missing returned to Ukraine. Second, soldiers who had been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment by Russia were returned home. 

(C)UNIAN 2025