Russia and Ukraine have each released 95 captives in their latest round of prisoner exchanges.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Friday that 95 Russian personnel held captive by Ukraine were freed, and it released the same number of Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that the soldiers include those who defended the steelworks in the eastern city of Mariupol, a battleground in the initial phase of Russia’s invasion.
The Ukrainian government says many of the freed soldiers have serious illnesses or injuries as the result of torture and ill-treatment, and have lost a lot of weight.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a report released this month that “Russian authorities have subjected Ukrainian POWs to widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment.”
Ukrainian prosecutors told the country’s media that they have information that the Russian military killed 93 prisoners of war in the battlefield.
Zelenskyy posted on social media that the government is doing all it can to rescue every Ukrainian captured by Russia.