Ukraine's defence forces have released videos showing severely wounded, seriously ill and defenders under 25 coming back home as part of the eighth major exchange agreed upon during Istanbul talks.
Source: videos from Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Ministry of Defence and State Border Guard Service; Major Andrii Yusov, Deputy Head of the Coordination Headquarters and spokesperson for Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, during the national 24/7 newscast
Quote from Yusov: "Despite a difficult night for the whole country, the day is also bright: another stage of the major exchange under Istanbul agreements took place today, the eighth stage so far. It happened with the direct participation of Lieutenant General [Kyrylo] Budanov, Head of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Young, seriously ill and severely wounded, privates and sergeants, officers have been released. There are civilians as well. Among the freed are medics."
Details: A notable aspect of this exchange is that those released include defenders sentenced by Russia to long prison terms and soldiers who were previously considered missing.
The youngest freed defender is only 20 and the oldest is 59.
*Freed Ukrainian defenders.*Photo: State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
The videos released by various institutions show sincere emotions, gratitude for the belief in their return, the fight to secure their release, and their first phone calls to relatives. The freed defenders admit that it feels freer to breathe on their native land.
Background:
At the negotiations in Istanbul on 2 June, Ukraine and Russia agreed on a 6,000-for-6,000 exchange of bodies of fallen soldiers. The Ukrainian and Russian delegations agreed on an all-for-all exchange of seriously wounded service members and those aged 18-25.In June, a number of prisoner exchanges and repatriations of bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers took place.
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