GUR announced the release of the first 95 defenders of Azovstal from captivity
Ukraine and Russia held the largest exchange of prisoners of war in four months of the war. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. – This is the biggest exchange since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. Of the 144 released – 95 defenders of “Azovstal”. Among them are 43 servicemen of the Azov Regiment, the department's Telegram channel says. In general, the following were released: 59 National Guard fighters; 30 – Naval Forces; 28 – Armed Forces of Ukraine; 17 – State Border Service of Ukraine; 9 – Territorial Defense; 1 – National Police of Ukraine. Of these, 23 officers and 69 military sergeants and petty officers. The oldest of those released is 65 years old, the youngest is 19. Most of the liberated Ukrainians have severe injuries: gunshot and shrapnel wounds, explosive injuries, burns, fractures, limb amputations. All of them receive proper emergency medical and psychological assistance. – 43 servicemen of the Azov regiment are already at home! – confirmed in the Telegram channel “AZOV – Mariupol” of a separate special forces detachment “Azov”. The leader of the so-called “DPR” Denis Pushilin wrote that “we are returning 144 fighters of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Russian Federation home” . According to Russian Telegram channels, the exchange took place in the Zaporozhye region. The Association of Families of Azovstal Defenders reported that Tatiana Kharko and Ekaterina Popova, representatives of their headquarters, were present at the exchange.
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The defenders of Mariupol began leaving Azovstal on May 16 and ended up in the territory not controlled by Ukraine. Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said that the implemented scenario with a subsequent exchange was the only possible one, since Ukraine still cannot unblock Mariupol by military means.
