100 military personnel and one civilian were released from Russian captivity during a prisoner exchange on Feb. 16, according to the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
The majority of military personnel are from Mariupol, including 63 Azovstal defenders. Among them are also soldiers who were defending Kherson and Kyiv Oblasts, as well as Bucha, Kherson, and Lyman. Many of the soldiers were wounded when captured.
46 of the freed military POWs belong to the Naval Forces, 29 to the State Border Service,12 to the National Guard, eight to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and five to the Territorial Defense Forces.
The one civilian returned is Ivan Samoydyuk, the first deputy mayor of the occupied city of Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. He was held in captivity for 333 days after being captured at a military checkpoint near Blahovishchenka, Luhansk Oblast, on Mar. 19.
1,464 service members and 132 civilians were freed from Russian captivity in 2022, according to the Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories.
