Kiev: Ukraine has secured the release of five civilians, of which four were captured by Russian forces in the Kiev region.
In a statement on Saturday, the Chief Intelligence Directorate under the Defence Ministry, said: “Today, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War conducted another five-for-five exchange. Five citizens of Ukraine returned home.
“All those released were civilians who had been illegally detained by the Russian occupying forces. Four of the civilians were taken prisoner by the occupiers during the fighting in Kiev Oblast, three of them during the occupation of Hostomel.”
The body of one deceased Ukrainian security personnel was also returned, Ukrayinska Pravda quoted the statement as saying.
On Friday, President Volodymyr Zelensky had announced that the Ukrainian paramedic Yulia Paievska, who was captured by the Russians in Mariupol in March, had been released from captivity.
Some of the bodies of security personnel of Mariupol from Azovstal have also been returned to Ukraine.