#stateborderguardservice

“Service members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service. 139 of them had been held captive since 2022.” ~ @mfa_ukraine 🇺🇦👏💙💛🙏🇺🇦

#Repost @mfa_ukraine with @use.repost_ . . . 157 Ukrainians have just returned home from Russian captivity!

Service members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service. 139 of them had been held captive since 2022.

The youngest freed Ukrainian defender is 23. He was captured at 19 while defending Mariupol and was illegally sentenced by a Russian court to life imprisonment. The oldest defender released today is 63.

Today’s exchange took place after a long pause, and we thank everyone working to make these exchanges possible. We must, and we will, bring everyone back.

In the past two days, 500 Ukrainian defenders and two Ukrainian civilians have been released from Russian captivity and returned to Ukraine. 🇺🇦👏💙💛🙏🇺🇦

#Repost @ukraine.ua with @use.repost_ . . . 300 Ukrainian defenders have returned home from Russian captivity.

Among them are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service who defended the country in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson regions, and in Mariupol. Most had been held for more than a year, some since 2022.

Two Ukrainian civilians were also brought back today.

Ukraine continues working to bring every one of our people home. We are grateful to everyone who helped make this exchange possible 💙💛

“Ukraine secured the release of 205 service members from Russian captivity on May 15, marking the first phase of a large-scale “1,000-for-1,000” exchange.” ~ @kyivindependent_official 🇺🇦👏💙💛🙏🇺🇦

#Repost @kyivindependent_official with @use.repost_ . . . Ukraine secured the release of 205 service members from Russian captivity on May 15, marking the first phase of a large-scale “1,000-for-1,000” exchange. The group includes soldiers from the Armed Forces, National Guard, and State Border Guard Service, many of whom were captured in 2022 during the defense of Mariupol, Azovstal, and the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

“We will continue to fight for every person who still remains in captivity,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said. He credited the success of the swap to the “exchange fund” replenished by Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines and the support of international partners.

Photo: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War; President Volodymyr Zelensky / Telegram.