Ukraine secures fourth prisoner exchange in past week
Ukraine conducted its fourth prisoner exchange with Russia in a week on 14 June 2025, bringing back military personnel and officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X (Twitter)
Quote: "We continue bringing our people home from Russian captivity. This is already the fourth exchange this week.
Many of the guys who returned to Ukraine today had been held captive since 2022. They are warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service and the State Transport Special Service."
Details: The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War provided details of the exchange.
Those released include seriously ill and wounded individuals, as well as young people under 25. Most are officers.
The repatriated servicemen include members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – such as Airborne Assault Troops, Navy and Territorial Defence Forces – alongside personnel from the State Border Guard Service, National Guard and State Special Transport Service. They fought on the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy and Kursk fronts.
Background:
At the negotiations in Istanbul on 2 June, Ukraine and Russia agreed on a 6,000-for-6,000 exchange of bodies of fallen soldiers. The Ukrainian and Russian delegations also agreed on an all-for-all exchange of seriously wounded service members and those aged 18-25.
On 9 June, the first group of released servicemen under the age of 25 returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity as part of the first stage of the 66th prisoner exchange.
On 10 June, Ukraine brought back from Russian captivity a group of defenders who had suffered severe injuries and have serious health conditions.
On 11 June, the bodies of 1,212 fallen defenders were brought back to Ukraine as a result of repatriation efforts.
The Coordination Headquarters emphasised that for security reasons, the exact number of released service members will be announced upon completion of the exchange process.
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