Russia, Ukraine conduct new prisoner swap

The Russian Defence Ministry has announced that 94 prisoners have been released by Ukraine through negotiations. According to head of the Ukrainian president’s office Andriy Yermak, Ukraine has returned 95 prisoners.

“The list includes Ukrainian army fighters, National Guard members, and border officers. There are 93 privates and sergeants as well as two officers among them. In particular, prisoners from Mariupol, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Zmiiny Island, the Bakhmut area, as well as Azovstal [Steel Works] defenders are coming home to their families,” Yermak wrote.

According to him, Ukraine also returned members of a Ukrainian special operation squad who flew by helicopter to the Azovstal plant in Mariupol surrounded by Russian troops. Many servicemen were in captivity wounded, Yermak added.

On 25 May, Ukraine said that 106 fighters from the Bakhmut area had been returned from captivity. On the Russian side, the exchange of prisoners was carried out by the mercenary Wagner Group. The next day it emerged that three service members of the Russian Federal Guard were released by Ukraine.

The previous prisoner exchange took place on 6 May. The Russian Defence Ministry reported that three pilots returned to Russia.

Yermak noted that 42 male and 3 female Azovstal defenders were released.