Fighters from seven regions of Southern Russia returned from Ukrainian captivity

The 205 persons returned to Russia as part of a prisoners of war (POWs) exchange with Ukraine include servicemen from seven regions of the North-Caucasian and Southern Federal Districts (NCFD and SFD).

On May 5, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) conducted a "POW exchange," Shamsail Saraliev, a State Duma MP from Chechnya and a member of the parliamentary coordination group on the special military operation (SMO), has reported in his Telegram channel. "205 our POWs have returned to Russia from Ukrainian captivity, and 205 ones were returned to Ukraine," he wrote.

All the Russian returnees are in the territory of Belarus, where they are receiving psychological support and medical care, "and are also given the opportunity to contact their relatives," the Russian MoD has reported in its Telegram channel.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have provided humanitarian mediation efforts in the exchange.

"All the released servicemen will be brought to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation in medical institutions of the Russian MoD. The UAE have provided humanitarian mediation efforts during the return of Russian servicemen from captivity," the publication says.

The "Our Way Out" movement, which is involved in organizing POW exchanges, has published a list of the Russian servicemen who were returned today. According to the list, those who returned to Russia include residents of the Astrakhan, Volgograd and Rostov Regions, the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Kalmykia and Kabardino-Balkaria.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 6, 2025 at 03:54 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.