Today, as part of the agreements in Istanbul, Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian soldiers are currently on the territory of Belarus. They are expected to be brought home soon, where they will undergo medical examination and treatment.
As reported by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, many of the soldiers who returned to Ukraine had been in captivity since 2022. Among them are employees of the border services, the National Guard, and the state special transport service controlled by the Ministry of Defense.
"We continue to bring our people back from Russian captivity. This is already the fourth exchange in a week," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
The Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, reported that a significant portion of the returned military personnel are officers. The oldest of those returned is 63 years old, and the youngest is 21 years old. Among those returned are also those who were considered missing.
It was also announced today that the parties have begun "indefinite sanitary exchanges," during which they hand over the wounded to each other.
Another 1200 bodies of deceased military personnel were handed over to Ukraine by Russia, according to the Ukrainian coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war. It is not reported whether Ukraine handed over the bodies of Russian soldiers to their homeland.
The last time Russia handed over the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers was yesterday. Before that, the exchange of the deceased took place on June 11, when 1200 bodies were handed over to Ukraine, and 27 to Russia.
Photo: TG Volodymyr Zelensky