A total of 108 Ukrainian women were freed in an “emotional” prisoner-of-war swap with Russia.
On Monday, Moscow and Kyiv carried out one of the biggest prisoner swaps of the war since the invasion of Ukraine was launched in February.
A total of 218 detainees were involved, including the 108 women who have now been reunited with their families in Ukraine.
Andriy Yermak, chief of staff for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, said there were 85 privates and NCOs (non-commissioned officers), 12 civilians, and 11 officers among the freed women.
“It was the first completely female exchange,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
In addition, 37 women who had been captured after Russian forces took the giant Azovstal steelworks – in the port city of Mariupol in May – had also been released, he said.
Ukraine’s interior ministry said some of the women had been in jail since 2019 after being detained by pro-Moscow authorities in eastern regions of Ukraine.
He described the swap as a “nervous exchange”. Pictures show coach-loads of women hugging their loved ones after arriving in Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine.
Mr Yermak said all the women would undergo a medical examination and rehabilitation.
Ukraine’s parliament tweeted: “Another large-scale PoWs exchange was carried out. It was an especially emotional and really special one – we freed 108 women from captivity.
“It was the first all-female exchange. Mothers and daughters were in captivity, and their relatives were waiting for them.”
Russia’s ministry of defence confirmed in a statement that 110 Russian citizens, including 80 civilian sailors and 30 military personnel, had returned from Kyiv-controlled territory “as a result of negotiations”.
Two Ukrainian women “voluntarily refused to return to Ukraine” and will stay in Russia, the ministry added.
