“It will be bigger than the previous one”: the GUR announced a new stage of the prisoner exchange

Ukraine is preparing for the second phase of the prisoner exchange after the return of 103 Ukrainians from Russian captivity on August 19. The next phase is expected to be larger than the previous one.

This was stated by GUR representative Andriy Yusov in a comment to Channel 24 .

According to Yusov, the exchange that took place on August 19 was only the first stage of a larger process. Ukraine expects the second stage to take place in the near future.

“If all goes well, the second stage will be larger than the previous one,” Yusov said.

The representative of the GUR emphasized that international partners play an important role in the process of releasing Ukrainians. In particular, Ukraine has already expressed gratitude to the United States and the United Arab Emirates for their mediation and assistance.

Yusov noted that Ukraine is ready to use all opportunities and involve any countries that can facilitate the return of prisoners of war and illegally detained Ukrainian civilians.

According to him, the issue of releasing Ukrainians from captivity is not only a problem for Ukraine, but also a challenge for international security and compliance with humanitarian law.

As is known, on Wednesday, August 19, 103 Ukrainian soldiers returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity.

It was previously reported that another exchange of civilians between Ukraine and Russia took place on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border on August 13. As a result, seven people returned to Ukraine and eight to Russia.

As a reminder, the bodies of 261 deceased were returned to Ukraine as part of repatriation measures , which, according to the Russian side, may belong to Ukrainian servicemen.

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