On 29 September, the head of the president’s office, Andrii Yermak, announced a new success in the POW exchange talks. Today, two civilian girls returned to their homeland, to their families. Viktoriia Andrusha was kidnapped by Russian soldiers. Since March 27, she was held captive because in her phone was found a photo of Russian equipment in the territory of Ukraine. The girl passed all the data to the armed forces of Ukraine. On September 29, almost half a year later, she was released from the Kursk detention centre. Yana Maiboroda was also taken prisoner by the Russian invaders because she gave the defenders photos of Russian equipment in the Chornobyl zone.
Four Ukrainian soldiers defended Mariupol. 2 officers, Oleksii Bulachov and Mykolai Kostenko, and 2 soldiers, Liudmyla Herasymenko and Ivan Zemliana, fought for the city before the Russians surrounded Azovstal. On 29 September, the heroes of the advance party also returned to the country.
It’s 20 prisoner-of-war exchanges since the war began. In September, 235 people were released, but many more remain in Russian captivity.
