President Volodymyr Zelensky during a press conference on June 6, 2023, in Kyiv. (Photo: President's Office)
President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a June 6 press conference that since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine has brought back about 2,500 prisoners of war, including about 370 civilians.
Ukraine doesn't know how many of its people are left in captivity since Russia doesn't share these numbers.
Ukraine's authorities continue their efforts to return its captured citizens home from Russian captivity.
On May 25, Presidential Office head Andrii Yermak reported that 106 captured Ukrainian Bakhmut defenders had been returned as part of a prisoner exchange.
Some 45 Azovstal defenders, including 10 officers, returned home on May 6.
Martin Fornusek is a reporter for the Kyiv Independent, specializing in international and regional politics, history, and disinformation. Based in Lviv, Martin often reports on international politics, with a focus on analyzing developments related to Ukraine and Russia. His career in journalism began in 2021 after graduating from Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, earning a Master's degree in Conflict and Democracy Studies. Martin has been invited to speak on Times Radio, France 24, Czech Television, and Radio Free Europe. He speaks English, Czech, and Ukrainian.
Thirteen children were illegally sent abroad and placed with foreign families for adoption, while law enforcemented intercepted the transfer of another 12.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained Russia's "shadow fleet" ship, which illegally transported agricultural products from the Russian-occupied Crimea, SBU said on Dec. 10.
Ukrainian troops in Myrnohrad are using a narrow “gray zone” corridor for rotations and supplies as frontline accounts of near-encirclement clash with official assurances.
Ukraine has recaptured 13 square kilometers (5 square miles) of territory in Pokrovsk after previously having no troops left in the city, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said during a Dec. 9 press briefing.
Russia's Syzran oil refinery halted operations on Dec. 5 after sustaining damage in a Ukrainian drone attack, Reuters reported on Dec. 9, citing industry sources.
Ukraine's largest bank, the state-owned Privatbank, extended a Hr 5 billion loan ($118.6 million) to Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-run oil and gas giant, for emergency natural gas purchases, Naftogaz wrote in a press release on Dec. 9.
"I am asking now, and stating this openly, for the U.S. to help me. Together with our European partners, we can ensure the security needed to hold elections. If that happens, Ukraine will be ready to conduct elections in the next 60 to 90 days," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Martin Fornusek
