Ukraine returned 49 of its citizens, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on your Telegram channel. In return, Russia received 49 servicemen, most of them conscripts captured in the Kursk region, writes "BBC".
According to Zelensky, servicemen from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the National Police, the Border Service, as well as civilians have returned to Ukraine. Among the latter is Lenya Umerova, a native of Crimea, who has been in pre-trial detention since the end of 2022 on charges of espionage. She was detained when she tried to go to occupied Crimea to see her seriously ill father.
"We also managed to free a few more defenders of Azovstal. The hero of Ukraine, military medic Viktor Ivchuk, is also at home," Zelensky wrote.
In the most recent hostage exchange in August, 115 Russian servicemen captured by Ukrainian forces in Kursk Oblast were freed. In return, Russia returned 115 Ukrainian prisoners of war to Kiev.