Russia And Ukraine Conduct First All-Female Prisoners Of War Exchange

Ukraine announced that they exchanged a total of 218 prisoners on Monday, October 17. The authorities revealed that Ukraine swapped 108 prisoners in the first all-female prison exchange.

Ukrainian presidency’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak took to Twitter and shared, “Another large-scale exchange of prisoners of war was carried out… we freed 108 women from captivity. It was the first all-female exchange.”

All-Female Prison Exchange

Yermak added, “Mothers and daughters. Their relatives have been waiting for them to come back.” He also said the women would undergo a “medical examination and rehabilitation”.

Yermak thanked the Coordinating Staff on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, along with “everyone involved for the brilliant job”.

Moscow and Kyiv carried out one of the biggest prisoner exchanges of the way so far.

Yermak said that 37 of the women had been captured after Russian forces took the Azovstal steelworks in the city of Mariupol in May. Some of the people exchanged were mothers and daughters who were being held together.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed in his video address that the exchanged prisoners consisted of 96 servicewomen, 12 civilians, and 37 evacuees from Azovstal.

Zelenskyy thanked everyone “involved for this success” and urged his troops to capture more prisoners. He said, “The more Russian prisoners we have, the sooner we will be able to free our heroes”.

The Russia-backed head of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Denis Pushilin confirmed the exchange and said that out of the 110 people agreed for the exchange, two of them decided to remain in Russia.

Pushlin said 80 Russians who were “civilian sailors” and 30 military personnel were freed.

Separately, Ukraine's interior ministry said some of the women had been in jail since 2019 after being detained by pro-Moscow authorities.

Visuals shared by Yermak showed dozens of women disembarking from white buses. Some of the women were wearing military fatigues and coats since they disembarked from the buses.

In a video shared by Yermak, he shared a view of the large number of prisoners who were freed and wrote in the caption, “Our people are returning home”.

Suggested Reading: Ukraine Documentary Sheds Spotlight On Foster Children Growing Up Amid War