Russia and Ukraine conducted a new prisoner exchange, for the eighth time since the June negotiations in Istanbul. They once again did not specify how many people participated in today's stage of the exchange. The Russian side reported that the exchange was "parity", the Ukrainian side promised to announce the numbers after the exchange is fully completed.
According to RIA "Novosti", two residents of the Kursk region returned to Russia. Another stage of indefinite sanitary exchanges of the wounded also took place.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky reported that servicemen of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Service, the State Special Transport Service, as well as civilians, returned home.
The Coordination Headquarters for Prisoner of War Issues noted that the youngest released defender was only 20 years old. The oldest was 59 years old. In addition to soldiers and sergeants, officers were also freed.
Among the released are defenders of Mariupol, who had been held in captivity since 2022.
Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets clarified that the feature of this exchange was that it was possible to return defenders whom Russia had sentenced to long prison terms. Among those returned are also military personnel who were considered missing.