Today, the 53rd exchange, which began on 25 June with the release of 90 Defenders, was completed. Another 10 civilians who had been illegally detained in the occupied territories, including Crimea, as well as in Belarus, were returned to Ukraine.

Among those released today are two priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ivan Levytskyi and Bohdan Geleta, who were detained by the occupation authorities in Berdiansk in November 2022.

Ukraine also managed to return the illegally convicted Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, activist and journalist Nariman Dzhelal. He was detained by russian security forces in Crimea back in September 2021 and illegally sentenced to 17 years in prison by the occupation court.

Olena Piekh - an art historian and researcher at the Horlivka Art Museum, who has been imprisoned by the occupiers since 2018 - returns home.

Another political prisoner, Valerii Matiushenko, was detained by the occupation forces in Donetsk region in July 2017 and later illegally imprisoned for up to 10 years.

Ukraine also managed to return several civilians illegally detained and convicted in belarus. Among those released is Nikolai Shvets, who was accused by the Belarusian authorities of blowing up a russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft at the Machulyshchi airfield.

The release of civilian Ukrainians took place with the mediation of the Holy See.

As part of the 53rd exchange, 100 Ukrainian citizens were returned home. In total, 3,310 Ukrainians have been released from russian captivity.