
Historic POW swap: Ukraine frees soldiers from 46 previously unrepresented military units
As part of the 1,000 for 1,000 prisoner of war exchange, for the first time since the full-scale war, soldiers from 46 units, from which no one had been released before, have been returned to Ukraine
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported the information.
"As a result of the largest exchange of 1,000 for 1,000, Ukraine managed to return prisoners of war from 46 units, which had never been on the exchange lists before. The return of soldiers from these units had long been blocked by the Russian side for various reasons," the statement says.
Every third released Ukrainian soldier was in captivity for more than 3 years. Thus, Russia held 311 of our defenders in captivity. 122 Ukrainian soldiers have been held captive since 2023, and 150 since 2024.
Among the released servicemen are: 497 representatives of the Ground Forces, 97 sailors of the Naval Forces, 95 soldiers of the Territorial Defense, 72 paratroopers, 21 from the Unmanned Systems Forces, 2 representatives of the Air Force, and 2 from the Support Forces.
Also, 56 border guards, 31 National Guardsmen, a representative of the State Special Transport Service, 175 defenders of the Mariupol garrison, 81 of whom were captured from Azovstal, returned from captivity.
"All the released servicemen are soldiers and sergeants who defended the hottest areas of the front," the Coordination Headquarters adds.
1,000 for 1,000 exchange
On May 23, Ukraine and Russia began the largest prisoner exchange since the beginning of the large-scale war. As part of the first part of the '1000 for 1000' exchange agreement, Ukraine returned 390 military and civilians.
On May 24, the second stage of a large prisoner of war exchange between Ukraine and the Russian Federation was carried out. 307 Ukrainian defenders returned home.
On Sunday, May 25, 2025, as part of the final third stage of the prisoner of war exchange with the aggressor country, 303 defenders of Ukraine returned to their homeland via Belarus. The same number of Russian soldiers were returned to the Russian Federation.
The commander of the 12th Special Purpose Brigade Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine, Colonel Denys Prokopenko, stated that among the thousand Ukrainian prisoners of war who were returned as part of a large exchange with Russia, there was not a single serviceman from his unit.
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