Ukraine returned 116 Ukrainians and the bodies of two foreign volunteers from Russian captivity

Ukraine returned 116 Ukrainians from Russian captivity. Among them are defenders of Mariupol, Kherson partisans and snipers from the Bakhmut direction, the head of the Presidentʼs Office, Andriy Yermak, said.

114 privates and sergeants, as well as two officers, were released from captivity. Of them, eight Territorial Defense soldiers, seven from the National Guard, six from the National Police, five from the State Border Service, two from the Naval Forces and one rescuer. There are also two soldiers of the Special Operations Forces.

In addition, it was possible to return the bodies of dead foreign volunteers Christopher Matthew Perry and Andrew Tobias Matthew, as well as Yevhen Kulyk, a Ukrainian volunteer who served in the French Foreign Legion and returned to Ukraine after the invasion began.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the return of 63 Russian prisoners of war. They claimed that representatives of the United Arab Emirates were involved in the exchange as intermediaries.

• Christopher Perry was a British citizen. He died together with Andrew Bagshaw in the area of Soledar, where there were bloody battles. Wagner PMC was the first to announce their death by publishing their documents.