Among the Ukrainians who were freed from Russian captivity, 38 are from the National Guard and 28 from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with 69 of the released having participated in the defense of Mariupol, according to the Coordination Headquarters for Prisoner Affairs.

"Among those released this time are 38 National Guard soldiers. As for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 28 soldiers were returned, including two from the Kraken Special Unit, two from the International Legion, three from Special Operations Forces, and one from the Territorial Defense Forces," stated the announcement posted on the Telegram channel on Saturday.

Additionally, 8 border guards, 4 police officers, 21 navy personnel, 3 representatives from the State Special Transport Service, and 1 from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine were also freed.

All 82 men released this time were either soldiers or sergeants, and 21 were officers.

"The released servicemen had fought against Russian occupiers in the defense of Mariupol – 69 of them (including 31 defenders of Azovstal), and also in the Donbas, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Kyiv regions. Among them were also two guards from the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant," the statement said.

The Coordination Headquarters emphasized that most of the released defenders suffered severe injuries, wounds, or serious illnesses and require urgent medical assistance.

The organization of the prisoner exchange took a long time.

Ukraine expressed its gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for their help in facilitating this latest exchange.

In turn, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, noted, "The vast majority of those released were held captive from the early days of the war."

According to his information, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 57 prisoner exchanges have been conducted, leading to the return of 3,672 Ukrainians.