UKRAINE, Apr. 24 — Ukraine returned 193 prisoners of war (POW) from Russian captivity as part of the POWs exchange, said the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The President said that there are military personnel from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard, the Border Guard Service, the National Police, and the State Transport Special Service among the POWs.

“Some of them are facing criminal charges in Russia, and others have been injured,” said Zelenskyy.

The released soldiers served in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kursk directions, said the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that this release was a follow-up to the Easter prisoner exchange. At that time, Ukraine returned 182 people.

The headquarters said that what makes today’s exchange unique is that it includes young men born in the 2000s who have returned from captivity, as well as injured defenders.

“Most of those released were kept unlawfully detained in Chechnya. Fabricated criminal cases were brought against some of them, in violation of the Geneva Conventions,” said the headquarters.

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