Ukraine returned soldiers and civilians from Russian captivity: details of the 68th exchange.

Ukraine celebrated Independence Day, marking it with an important event - the exchange of prisoners of war with Russia. In particular, servicemen of the Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and civilians, many of whom had been in captivity since 2022, were freed from Russian captivity. This was reported by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.'Exchanges continue. And perhaps this is thanks to our warriors who replenish the exchange fund for Ukraine. To our team, which works every day. To the partners who help. Thank you to the UAE for your assistance. Thank you to everyone who, through their work, makes it possible for our people to return,' he wrote on Telegram.According to the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, the youngest released soldier is 26 years old, and the oldest is 62 years old.'Also, as part of the planned work to return our citizens with the assistance of the UAE, eight civilians illegally deprived of liberty in the Russian Federation are returning home. Among them are those for whom there has been a long struggle for their return: journalists Dmytro Khilyuk and Mark Kaliush, former mayor of the city of Kherson Volodymyr Mykolayenko. Among the returnees are a paramedic-hospitaler, volunteers, as well as those who were illegally deprived of liberty before the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation,' the ombudsperson reported.The Coordination Headquarters on the processing of prisoners of war clarified that this exchange is already the 68th.'The servicemen who returned today defended the cities of Mariupol, Luhanske, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Sumy directions, guarded the Chernobyl NPP. Also, those who fell into the hands of the enemy in temporarily occupied territories, in Crimea, will see their relatives,' the headquarters stated.The liberated Ukrainians will receive the necessary medical assistance and state-provided payments, as well as undergo rehabilitation and reintegration into society after a long isolation in Russian captivity.