The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, confirmed on Friday the return to the country of a new group of prisoners of war and civilians as part of the exchanges agreed with Russia at the meeting that delegations of both countries held in Istanbul on June 2.
“Our people are at home. Most of them have been in Russian captivity since 2022,” the president wrote in the application of Telegram, where he explained that among the Ukrainian military returned by Russia are defenders of Donetsk, Mariupol, Lugansk, Kharkiv and Kherson.
These are soldiers of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Guard of Border Service and the State Special Transport Service.
Among those exchanged there are also civilians who could return to Ukraine, Zelensky added
The Ukrainian president stressed that “exchanges must continue”, and thanked all those who make them possible.
The objective of Ukraine “is to free all our people from Russian captivity,” he emphasized.
“This July 4, in correspondence with the agreements reached on June 2 in Istanbul, another group returned from Russian military from the territories controlled by the kyiv regime. In return, a group of military from the Ukrainian army was delivered,” Russian military command said on Telegram.
Defense did not specify the number of exchanged prisoners or the date of the next exchanges, which will be made in the “all of all” format, but will not be less than a thousand, as previously reported by the Russian negotiator, Vladimir Medinski.
Nor did he tell which of the categories of prisoners agreed for exchange (children under 25 years, sick or seriously injured) belong.
“At the moment the Russian military are in the territory of Belarus, where they are offered the necessary psychological and medical help,” added Russian military command.
According to Defense, “all Russian military will be transferred to Russia to receive medical care and rehabilitation in medical centers of the Ministry of Defense.”
So far there is no date of the next Russian-Ukrainian negotiation in Istanbul, although on the eve of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told his American counterpart, Donald Trump, the intention of continuing the dialogue with Ukraine, although he also declared that Kremlin will not cease in his purpose of achieving the objectives of his military campaign in the neighboring country.
At least 23 people were injured during a massive Russian attack against the Ukrainian capital that lasted from Thursday afternoon until Friday, as confirmed by local authorities. The mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said that 15 of the injured were hospitalized and five others receive outpatient attention.
The offensive, executed in successive waves, caused fires, material damage and the fall of drone fragments in multiple residential areas. According to Timur Tkachenko, head of the Military Administration of the city of kyiv (KMVA), at least 13 points of the districts of Solomyonskyi, Svyoshynskyi, Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi and Shevchenkivskyi were affected.
Among the injured are men and women between 25 and 57, with injuries such as polytrauma, burns and sharp wounds, Tkachenko reported. The authorities continue to evaluate the final number of victims and the scope of the damage. Source: Infobae
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