“Petro Yatsenko did not specify what these Ukrainians were convicted of in Russia”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“The peculiarity of this exchange is that now those who had court sentences have returned, in particular 15 – those who had a sentence of life imprisonment,” Yatsenko said.
He did not specify what these Ukrainians were convicted of in Russia.
“They (released today from captivity – ed.) represent almost all the security and defense forces: these are the Ground Forces, these are the defenders of Mariupol, these are defenders from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia areas,” Yatsenko added.
Currently, those released from captivity have been brought to a medical facility, where they will undergo examination and further rehabilitation. The state of health of the men is bad, says a representative of the Coordinating Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
“Most of them need long-term rehabilitation, reintegration into society. They have problems with the musculoskeletal system, sometimes with mental health, problems with the digestive system. More than three years in captivity (most of them spent exactly that time) are signs,” said Petro Yatsenko.
Today, February 5, as part of the 71st prisoner exchange with Russia, Ukraine returned 157 military personnel and civilians from captivity. This is the first exchange of prisoners in 2026. According to the coordination headquarters, 150 military personnel and seven Ukrainian civilians were freed from Russian captivity.
Earlier today, the special envoy of the US President, Steve Witkoff, confirmed that at the negotiations in the capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi, the delegations of the United States, Ukraine and Russia agreed on the first exchange of prisoners in five months. He wrote on the X network that 314 people on both sides would be fired.