There are military officers, citizens, and other individuals who were seized by Russian forces after the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol collapsed.
More than a hundred Ukrainian women were liberated from Russian captivity in what is believed to be one of the largest prisoner exchanges of the war yet.
Monday saw the exchange of 218 captives, including 108 Ukrainian women and 110 Russian civilian sailors and military personnel.
According to Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, each side intended to release 110 captives, but his side only turned over 108 Ukrainians since two of them decided to remain in Russia.
In May, following the fall of the Azovstal steelworks in the coastal city of Mariupol, Russian soldiers arrested 37 Ukrainians, of whom 12 were civilians.
Viktoria Obidina, a physician, stated that the group was unaware that they would be exchanged until the very last moment.
When Mariupol fell, she was separated from her small daughter, and following her release, she remarked, “I will go see my daughter – I am so desperate to see her.”
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior, some of the women have been detained by pro-Russian authorities in eastern districts such as Donetsk since 2019.
In his nighttime address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the prisoner swap, stating: “Among those released, today are prisoners who were apprehended well before the outbreak of hostilities.
“We do not forget any of our people; they must all be returned. And we will return all of them.”
According to him, Ukrainian women serve as officers, sergeants, and privates in the army, navy, territorial defense, national guard, and border patrol.
He also encouraged the Ukrainians to accept more Russian captives to facilitate future prisoner exchanges.
“The greater our number of Russian prisoners, the sooner we will be able to release our heroes. Every Ukrainian soldier and frontline commander should keep this in mind.
“I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this success, as well as those who replenish our exchange fund and secure the capture of our opponents.”
