The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the return of 101 captured servicemen, the agency's statement was quoted by RIA Novosti, Infterfax and TASS . The Ukrainian side at the time of the release of the news about the exchange did not report.
According to the Ministry of Defense, 101 servicemen were returned from the territory controlled by Kyiv as a result of negotiations, they were in “mortal danger”. Now they will be delivered to Moscow on aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Aerospace Forces. The military will undergo treatment and rehabilitation in medical institutions of the Ministry of Defense.
At the end of 2022, it became known that 3,392 Ukrainian military were in Russian captivity, the data was announced by Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser and Commissioner for Ensuring the Rights of Defenders Alena Verbitskaya. During the war, 15,000 people in Ukraine went missing, the fate of these people "is not at all clear," she emphasized.
The Russian Ministry of Defense in the summer of 2022 stated that more than 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers were being held captive. The largest exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine took place on September 22: Ukraine returned 215 soldiers, more than 100 of which were Azov fighters. Russia chose to get Viktor Medvedchuk, Vladimir Putin's godfather, and 55 Russians. According to The Washington Post, the Federal Security Service (FSB) dissuaded the President of the Russian Federation from this decision.