45 Ukrainian POWs, 2 deported children return home

Forty-five Ukrainian prisoners of war, including two civilians, returned home from Russian captivity, the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported on July 6.

In cooperation with Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, the headquarters also arranged the return of two more children Russia had deported earlier. Their mother, a combat medic, was released from Russian captivity in October 2022.

According to the government’s portal Children of War, Russia has abducted or forcibly moved 19, 493 Ukrainian children since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

The freed prisoners included personnel from Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, National Guard, border guards, and a navy soldier, the headquarters wrote. Most are privates and sergeants.

They had defended Mariupol, fought in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Kherson oblasts, reads the report. Among the released POWs were two people who had been considered missing.

The returned civilians were an employee of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol and an activist from Kherson, the headquarters added.

The Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War has organized 47 prisoner swaps with Russia since March 11, 2022. During this time, 2576 people have been released from Russian captivity.

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The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko