Zelenskyy announced the third stage of prisoner exchange: the goal is to release absolutely everyone held in the russian federation

On Sunday, May 25, the third stage of the exchange in the format "1000 for 1000" will take place. Today, May 24, Ukraine returned home from Russian captivity another 307 of our soldiers. This was announced in an evening video address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writes UNN.

The exchange continued today. Another 307 of our soldiers were returned home. Privates and sergeants. Most are from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and there are also the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service. Of all these people, 273 were captured in the Donetsk region, a significant part of them in 2022, as well as from the territories of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv regions, and Luhansk region. In total, 697 Ukrainians have already returned home in two days of exchanges.

He also announced that on May 25, the third stage of the exchange of prisoners of war in the format "1000 for 1000" will take place.

Tomorrow is the third stage. We must release a thousand of our people these days. But the task is to release absolutely everyone who is currently being held in Russia, and this task is common for our intelligence services, for our diplomats, for our entire state. It is clear that this is not an easy task, but it must be implemented.

He thanked everyone who helps Ukraine.

"I am grateful to everyone in the world who helps us. And it is really very important for us that our partners - every leader, every state - support us in this difficult work," the President added.

Let us remind you

On May 24, within the framework of a large exchange of prisoners of war "1000 for 1000", it was possible to return 307 Ukrainian defenders. Among those released are 27 defenders of Mariupol, the youngest is 25 years old, and the oldest is 61.