POW swaps to continue into next week - president

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced this in an evening video address to the nation on Saturday, Ukrinform reports.

"Today came another exchange, the fourth this week. It is very important – we are bringing back home our guys from Russian captivity. And this time we managed to return, in particular, our Ukrainian officers – army, border guards. Of course, there are also soldiers and sergeants in today's exchange," the head of state noted.

The president recalled that many of the soldiers had been held in Russia since 2022. These are the defenders of Mariupol, Azovstal, fighters from other war zones.

As the president noted, they are already at home, in Ukraine. Everyone is provided with the necessary assistance to treat their injuries, after the harsh conditions of captivity in Russia.

According to Zelensky, the health condition of the released service members is indeed grave.

The head of state added that work is underway to return all other Ukrainians who are currently in Russian captivity.

"We plan for the exchanges to continue into week, at least there is such an agreement," the president emphasized.

The head of state added: "We hope that the Russian side will deliver on their part of these humanitarian obligations, and deliver them as agreed."

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on June 14, Zelensky announced the fourth exchange of prisoners of war with the Russian Federation in a week. As a result of the Istanbul agreements, soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, including Territorial Defense, Special Operations Forces, Marine Corps, Airborne Assault and Mechanized Troops were brought back to Ukraine.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that the majority of the service members released from Russian captivity on June 14 are officers.