Ukraine has brought home 49 of its citizens who had been held captive by Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on September 13.
Among those freed are members of the Armed Forces, National Guard, National Police, and border guards, as well as civilians.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that 23 of those released were women, including civilians who had been detained and illegally imprisoned by Russia prior to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Photo: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on Telegram
One of the civilians freed was Leniye Umerova, a young Crimean Tatar.
Umerova was detained by Russian authorities at the Georgian-Russian border in 2022 while traveling to occupied Crimea to care for her father, who was battling cancer.
President Zelensky expressed his determination to continue efforts to secure the release of all Ukrainian soldiers and civilians still in Russian captivity.
"We have to bring home all of our soldiers and civilians," he told the Kyiv Independent.
Photo: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on Telegram
