Returning home of 20 Ukrainians is provided under the patronage of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The release was carried out today at the “Mayorske” checkpoint in Donetsk region and near Shchastia City in Luhansk region.  

In particular, nine Ukrainian citizens were held by the militants on the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk region, and eleven Ukrainians – in Luhansk region, among them were two servicemen. As a result of the exchange 14 persons were sent to separatist-held territories.  

“The preparation process is always complicated, but the main thing is that 20 Ukrainians will celebrate the Easter free. The life of every Ukrainian is supreme value for us, and today’s exchange proves this”, emphasizes Ivan Bakanov, the SBU Head. Ivan Bakanov underlines that today’s exchange is the third one during the last seven months, thus, it is evident that the President’s strategy of exchange “all for all” and agreements, reached in Normandy format, are efficient.

“Returning of our citizens is the priority area, we constantly work on it notwithstanding any economic or political circumstances, even despite COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to make every effort to return home those, who unfortunately are still held captive”, says Ivan Bakanov.

After the return, our citizens should follow the procedure of medical observation and special checks. After that our citizens may address social services for adaptation and rehabilitation. It is worth noting that this is the first time when Ukrainian side returned more persons, than passed to another side. But the main victory is still ahead.

To remind, the previous exchange took place in December 2019, when 76 Ukrainians returned home.