Ukraine has carried out its fourth prisoner exchange with Russia in a week, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday, underscoring Kyiv’s continued efforts to bring home its citizens held in Russian captivity.

“Today, among those returning to Ukraine, many have been in captivity since 2022,” Zelensky stated. The returning group includes personnel from the Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.

This latest exchange, held under the framework of an agreement reached earlier this month in Istanbul, focused on severely wounded and seriously ill soldiers—many of whom were captured during the defense of Mariupol in 2022. Most of the released soldiers are officers, with several under the age of 25. They served on key front lines across Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Kursk.

While the exact number of personnel released in the June 14 exchange was not disclosed, previous swaps on June 10 and June 12 similarly prioritized injured and ill service members.

The Istanbul agreement, finalized during the second round of direct Ukrainian-Russian talks on June 2, also includes the repatriation of fallen soldiers. As part of the deal, Russia has pledged to return the bodies of up to 6,000 Ukrainian service members. Ukraine received the remains of 2,412 individuals on June 11 and 13, and an additional 1,200 on June 14.

Ukraine continues to advocate for an "all-for-all" exchange model, seeking the release of every captured Ukrainian soldier—a proposal that Moscow has yet to accept. Nevertheless, preparations are ongoing for additional phases of prisoner swaps in the coming weeks.

The freed service members will undergo comprehensive medical evaluations, physical and psychological rehabilitation, and will receive full compensation for their time in captivity, according to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for Prisoners of War.

President Zelensky expressed optimism about completing the current round of exchanges by June 20 or 21. (ILKHA)