Ukraine returns 116 defenders from Russian captivity, including Mariupol fighters, Kherson partisans, snipers

The head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, said that on February 4, 116 Ukrainian defenders were returned from Russian captivity. Among them are Mariupol defenders, Kherson partisans and snipers from the Bakhmut area.

The press service of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War emphasized that among the liberated soldiers there are prisoners of war from the Donetsk area, in particular those captured near Bakhmut and in Mariupol, as well as in the Kyiv, Luhansk, Kherson, Sumy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions.

“87 soldiers of Ukraine's Armed Forces, two of whom are from the Special Operations Forces. Eight soldiers of the Territorial Defense Forces, seven from the National Guard, six from the National Police, five from the State Border Guard Service, two from the Navy and one representative of the State Emergency Service. Among them are two officers and 114 privates and sergeants,” he specified.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War added that 23 of the released soldiers are injured or ill.

“Some lost limbs as a result of frostbite. The youngest of the liberated soldiers recently turned 20 years old, the oldest is 62 years old,” the press service informed.

Ukraine has also returned the bodies of the deceased volunteers - Christopher Matthew Perry and Andrew Tobias Matthew. The body of a volunteer soldier was also returned: Ukrainian Yevhen Kulyk served in the French Foreign Legion.