Ukraine returns 49 people from Russian captivity, including Azovstal defenders

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this.

"49 Ukrainians are at home. These are soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard, the National Police, the State Border Guard Service, as well as our civilians," Zelenskyy wrote.

Among those released from captivity are some of Azovstal defenders, as well as the Hero of Ukraine, military medic Viktor Ivchuk. In addition, a Crimean Tatar woman, Leniye Umerova, who was taken hostage by Russia when she came to take care of her sick father, was returned to Ukraine.

The president thanked the Ukrainian team that ensures the release of prisoners and hostages from Russian captivity, as well as the military who replenish the exchange fund for Ukraine.

"All our soldiers who capture the Russian occupiers, all our services that neutralize Russian saboteurs and collaborators are bringing the liberation of our people closer. We have to bring home all our people - both soldiers and civilians," Zelenskyy wrote.

According to the Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, the 56th exchange of prisoners of war took place today. A total of 3,569 people have been returned to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. 

According to him, the health condition of those returned is very serious, many of them have lost tens of kilograms of weight.

“Employees of the Ombudsman's Office are always present at the exchange site. They record the condition in which our soldiers return home. They also inform the returned Ukrainians about their rights. In particular, the right to a proper medical examination, rehabilitation, and restoration of documents,” Lubinets added.

On Leniye Umerova

Crimean Tatar Leniye Umerova was detained in early December 2022. The girl was accused of violating the rules of the restricted zone when she tried to return to the temporarily occupied Crimea to care for her father with cancer. For five months, the security forces held her in North Ossetia. Earlier, Umerova renounced her Russian citizenship during the forced passportization in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

On May 16, it became known that the Russian special services detained Leniye Umerova and opened a criminal case under the article on espionage.

On July 1, 2023, a Russian court extended the illegal detention of Crimean Tatar Leniye Umerova for three months, the details of the case were not disclosed. In early August, a Russian court again extended Umerova's detention.

• On August 24, Ukraine and Russia, with the assistance of the UAE, conducted a prisoner exchange for the first time since the beginning of the Armed Forces operation in the Kursk region.