Ukraine brought back 49 Ukrainian defenders and civilians from Russian captivity on Sept. 13, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
This includes service personnel of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the National Police, and border guards.
A total of 23 women were brought back, including civilians detained and illegally imprisoned by Russia before the full-scale invasion, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported.
Leniye Umerova, a young Crimean Tatar who was detained by Russia at the Georgian-Russian border in 2022 when she traveled to occupied Crimea to look after her cancer-stricken father, is among the released.
Military medic and Hero of Ukraine Viktor Ivchuk was also among those released. Ivchuk, a colonel of the Armed Forces and head of a military hospital in Mariupol, has been held captive by Russia since April 2022.
"We have to bring home all of our soldiers and civilians," Zelensky said.
The released captives include 15 soldiers of the Azov Brigade who defended the city of Mariupol in 2022 and its stronghold — the Azovstal steel plant, according to the headquarters.
"The Azov (soldiers) were included in the exchange for the first time in a long time. This group consists mainly of women," an Azov patronage service said.
Thirteen sailors, eight Armed Forces service members, two police officers, and four border guards were also freed from Russian captivity, according to the headquarters.
This is the 56th prisoner exchange since the outbreak of the full-scale war. A total of 3,569 Ukrainians have been brought back from Russian captivity, Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.
Kyiv aims to conduct an all-for-all prisoner exchange, which was one of the subjects at Ukraine's peace summit in Switzerland in mid-June.
Andrea Januta
(Updated: )
