Ukraine brings home 270 people in prisoner swap, including Mariupol defenders and Olenivka survivors

Ukraine has brought home 270 people from Russian captivity, 261 servicemen and nine civilians, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said on 23 October. The release was carried out on the instruction of President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Ukraine's military intelligence service (HUR), which runs the headquarters.

The exchange is the third stage of a combined swap that began on 19 August, HUR said. The Ukrainian statements do not say how many Russian prisoners were handed over, where the exchange took place, or what terms were agreed.

Who was released

The servicemen come from the Navy, Ground Forces, Air Assault Forces, the State Special Transport Service, Territorial Defence, the Special Operations Forces and military law enforcement. They also include National Guard troops, among them fighters of the Azov formation, Border Guard personnel, and one rescuer from the State Emergency Service.

More than half of the servicemen were captured in 2022, many during the defence of Mariupol, HUR said. The port city in the Donetsk region was besieged by Russian forces in the first months of the full-scale invasion. Its last defenders, including many Azov fighters, left the Azovstal steel plant into Russian custody in May 2022.

According to HUR:

• Five of the returnees survived the bombing of barracks 200 at Olenivka, which HUR called a terrorist attack.
• Nine are gravely ill.
• 38 are officers.
• Some were taken captive in 2018 and 2020.

The returnees fought in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv areas, and some defended the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, HUR said.

HUR said a significant share of those freed were prosecuted by Russia and, in violation of international law, convicted on fabricated charges. Sentences ranged widely and included life imprisonment. These claims come from the Ukrainian side and were not independently verified.

Olenivka survivors

HUR chief Lt Gen Oleh Ivashchenko, who also heads the Coordination Headquarters, said the families of those returning had waited more than four years. He said five of the Ukrainians freed had been believed dead after the Olenivka attack.

"This once again shows how important it is not to stop the search, to check every testimony, to establish the fate of those about whom there is no reliable information," Ivashchenko said. "Negotiations can be lengthy, and the agreements reached can be difficult to implement."

He thanked security and defence forces, negotiating teams and international partners.

The Olenivka explosion happened on 29 July 2022 at a detention site in Russian-occupied Donetsk region where Ukrainian prisoners from Mariupol were held. Dozens of prisoners died. Moscow blamed a Ukrainian strike, and Kyiv has rejected that and blamed Russia. This article does not attempt to settle that dispute.

Civilians and international thanks

HUR separately thanked the United States and the United Arab Emirates for their help, and singled out those who worked to free Stephen Gabbard. He is a 74-year-old English teacher from Izium, in the Kharkiv region. HUR said Russia illegally convicted him and subjected him to torture. The statement did not say whether he is among the nine civilians returned.

Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said the release was the work of a large team. "Behind every release are the efforts of many people, coordination and daily work that does not stop for a day," he said. "We remember everyone who remains in Russian captivity. We are fighting for each one, for the return of all of them home."

What happens next

All of those freed will undergo medical examinations and receive treatment, HUR said. They will also get essential items for their first days, the payments they are owed, and rehabilitation and reintegration support after long isolation. The Coordination Headquarters said it will continue working to find and return every Ukrainian still held in Russia.