Ukraine and ‘DPR’ exchange 110 POWs from each side

Ukraine and ‘DPR’ have exchanged 110 POWs from each side, both Andriy Yermak, the head of Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration, and Denis Pushilin, the head of the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ reported on their Telegram channels.

Out of the 110 individuals Ukraine returned home 108 are women, Yermak says.

“It was our first almost completely female exchange. Mothers and daughters, awaited by their relatives, have returned home. 37 of them are Azovstal defenders, 11 are officers and 85 are privates and sergeants. Of these, 35 are defenders from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 32 from the Navy, 12 from the territorial defence, 8 from the National Guard including 2 from Azov, 5 from the State Special Service of Transport, 4 from the State Tax Service, and 12 civilians. Among those released were girls illegally imprisoned in the temporarily occupied areas, who had been captured even before the large-scale invasion started. Since 2019, people have been imprisoned in the pseudo-republics for having a “too pro-Ukrainian stance.” They were involved in the transportation of humanitarian aid for orphans but accused of “espionage” and “terrorism,” Yermak said.

Pushilin said they sent 108 troops to Ukraine because two women “refused to go and decided to stay in Russia.” 110 Russian prisoners of war returned to Russia: 80 non-military sailors and 30 military personnel from the “DPR”, “LPR” and regions of the Russian Federation.

A total of 402 Azov Regiment servicemen are being held in Russian pre-trial detention centres, head of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin said during a meeting in the occupied city of Melitopol on 13 October. He added that the Azov fighters are held in specialised facilities on the territories of the Volgograd, Rostov, Belgorod, and Voronezh regions of Russia.

At the beginning of October, acting head of the Azov Regiment Mykyta Nadtochyi and former POWs Bogdan Krotevich, Ivan Ignatyev, and Ilya Samoylenko said during a press-conference that about 2,500 servicemen from Mariupol were being held in Russian captivity, with 700 of them being Azov fighters.