Lubinets anticipates significant change in prisoner exchange process

This was stated by Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, during a television appearance, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

“On August 14, for the first time, we succeeded in securing the release of a particularly difficult category of captives. We are grateful to the United Arab Emirates for their support. I sincerely hope this positive trend continues. I’ll be honest: you can never be 100% certain when negotiating with representatives of the Russian Federation. But we remain cautiously optimistic. At the very least, the process of verifying data and exchanging updated lists has begun, and we’ve started receiving additional information,” Lubinets said.

Lubinets expressed hope for a “significant change in the issue of returning our heroes to the country,” especially those civilians who have been imprisoned the longest.

As reported by Ukrinform, 84 Ukrainian military personnel and civilians were returned home on August 14. The youngest among them was just 26 years old, while the oldest—aged 74—had spent the past seven years in a Russian prison, since 2018.

One of the released individuals had spent 4,013 days in captivity, having been captured in the Donetsk region back in 2014. Among those freed were three women from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including a primary school teacher who was unjustly detained in 2019.

Bohdan Kovalchuk, a civilian from the Donetsk region, also returned after nine years of captivity. He was imprisoned by occupying forces at the age of 17, accused of allegedly collaborating with the Security Service of Ukraine.

In addition to civilians, the group included defenders from the Mariupol garrison, Navy personnel, and State Border Service officers. Notably, ten officers were among those released.

Ukrinform photos are available for purchase here