Kyiv, Moscow Swap Prisoners As Ukraine Marks Independence Day

As Ukraine marks 33 years of independence on August 24, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced that 115 Ukrainian prisoners were released in a swap with Russia.

"Another 115 of our defenders have returned home today. They are warriors from the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy, and the State Border Guard Service," Zelenskiy said in a message on X.

"We remember everyone. We are searching for them and making every effort to bring them all back," he said.

Some of the released Ukrainian prisoners spoke to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service from a location Ukrainian authorities requested not be disclosed.

Ihor, who provided only his first name, said he was captured while serving as a conscript in National Guard Unit 3057, part of the Ukrainian forces that defended the city of Mariupol and surrendered to Russia in May 2022.

According to a Ukrainian governmental body that oversees the treatment of prisoners of war, 82 of the freed Ukrainian soldiers had fought in Mariupol.

"They led us out of the prison cell at 5 a.m. There were no words, no explanation. They took us to the office and gave us our uniforms to put them on. Then they took us somewhere in cars," Ihor said. "No one told us whether that was a simple transfer to another prison or a prisoner swap. We arrived at an air base and were put on a plane. The plane arrived at another air base. More than 100 of us gathered there. Only then we understood that this was a prisoner swap."