Most of those freed are young people born after 2000, according to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Emotional scenes unfolded on Saturday outside a hospital in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region, where relatives awaited the returnees. Among them was Nataliia Lohvynchuk, reunited with her son Ihor, who was captured during the battle for Mariupol in the spring of 2022.
Thousands of Ukrainian prisoners remain detained. Since the start of the invasion, 4,552 Ukrainians have been returned through 63 exchanges.
