Ukraine returns 44 more POWs from Russian captivity

This was reported by the head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak on Telegram.  

"Another exchange of prisoners. We managed to return 44 of our people home. Among them are 36 privates and sergeants and 6 officers. These are soldiers, border guards, national guardsmen, sailors. They defended Mariupol, Azovstal, Kherson region and fought with the enemy in eastern Ukraine. We also released two civilians," Yermak wrote.  

He noted that among those liberated are the wounded who were tortured by Russians while in captivity. There are also two men whose wives were released from captivity earlier.

In his turn, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets added that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 2,279 Ukrainians have been released. 

The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine noted that 19 of the released soldiers belong to the Armed Forces, 11 to the State Border Guard Service, 7 to the Navy, 2 to the National Guard, and 3 to the Territorial Defense Forces. 

In particular, a military surgeon who operated on the wounded in a military hospital in Mariupol and organised mass medical care was released from captivity. One of the released men, a unit commander, was threatened with a so-called "trial" with a lengthy prison term.

The Russian Defense Ministry claims that it received 40 of its prisoners of war as part of the exchange.  

• On April 10, another large prisoner exchange took place, with 100 Ukrainians returning home.