Russia and Ukraine exchange almost a hundred prisoners of war for each side

Follow live the latest news about the war in Ukraine

Follow live the latest news about the war in Ukraine

Follow live the latest news about the war in Ukraine

June 11 () –

Ukraine and Russia have materialized this Sunday an agreement for the delivery of 94 Russian soldiers imprisoned by Ukraine and 95 Ukrainian soldiers who were in Russian prisons, as reported by both parties.

The Russian military “have returned from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime, where they were in captivity and in mortal danger,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement collected by the Russian news agency Interfax.

The soldiers will be transferred to sanitary facilities of the Ministry of Defense “for treatment and rehabilitation,” Moscow added. “All those released will have the necessary medical and psychological assistance,” he stressed.

kyiv, for its part, has reported the return of 93 privates, sergeants and two officers in this prisoner exchange. “On the list there are soldiers from the Armed Forces, the National Guard and border guards,” said a spokesman for the Ukrainian Presidency, Andri Yermak, in a statement published on Telegram.

The liberated soldiers were captured in Mariúpol, Chernobyl, the island of Serpents, Bakhmut and Azovstal. Some of them had arrived at the Azovstal factory complex by helicopter to support the Ukrainian forces that were holding out there when it was already surrounded by the Russians.

The Ukrainian authorities have highlighted that many of the released soldiers have injuries, some of them serious, caused during their time in captivity and that some were in the hands of the Wagner mercenary group and Chechen units.

One of the released prisoners has lost 30 kilos of weight and others are sick. “They will be able to reunite with their relatives when they finish the necessary rehabilitation,” the Ukrainian authorities have qualified.

So far nearly 2,500 Ukrainian servicemen captured by Russian forces have been released, but the total number of prisoners of war is unknown.