Russia and Ukraine Exchange Prisoners on a 90-90 Formula

Fighters of the National Guard, the Territorial Defense Forces and border guards have returned from Russian captivity. Many of them took part in the defense of Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war on the 90-90 formula. This was announced by the authorities of the two countries on Tuesday, 25 June. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) acted as a mediator in the negotiation process. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pointed out that fighters of the National Guard, Territorial Defense Forces and border guards returned from captivity. “We remember all our people in Russian captivity. We continue to work for the release of each and every one,” the Ukrainian leader added. According to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Kiev managed to exchange 59 defenders of Mariupol, 52 of whom took part in the defense of Azovstal. Those who were captured in Kherson, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk oblasts also returned to Ukraine. The press service of the Russian Defense Ministry pointed out that the Russian servicemen in Ukrainian captivity were in “mortal danger”. At least 8,000 Ukrainians, including civilians, are in Russian captivity, a representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Yuriy Taranyuk, said on 24 January. He added that the headquarters continued to search for tens of thousands of other Ukrainians who went missing. At the same time, Taranyuk believes that most of the missing are in captivity in the Russian Federation. In addition, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian investigative authorities are aware of 54 cases of shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian soldiers.