OPEN LETTER: To the 160 defenders of Mariupol finally home

Introduction: a letter to those returning from hell

Why I'm writing to you directly

Today I am writing directly to you, the 160 Ukrainian servicemen who returned from Russian captivity on June 26, 2026, as part of the third phase of the "thousand for thousand" exchange. Among you, 115 defenders of Mariupol and the Azovstal plant, held since 2022. I don't know you personally, but your story deserves to be told with the dignity it commands.

You held on for four years. Four years of captivity, which we know, from testimonies gathered since 2022, was accompanied by atrocities documented by human rights organizations. I am writing this letter because I believe the Western world has a duty to never forget you, and to never forget why you fought.

What this exchange reveals about the war itself

The 76th exchange since 2022

This exchange on June 26 is not isolated. It is the 76th prisoner exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, according to data compiled by several Ukrainian outlets. Each exchange tells a similar story: men and women torn from their family, from their units, from their normal life, then returned, often years later, to a country that kept fighting in their absence.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that this year alone, 1,596 Ukrainians have been brought home, and that more than 9,500 people have returned since the start of the war in 2022. These figures, cold as they may be on paper, represent thousands of reunions, tears, and suspended griefs finally resolved.

The constant mediation of the United Arab Emirates

It must be said: this exchange, like so many before it, was made possible thanks to the mediation of the United Arab Emirates, which has played a discreet but essential role in these humanitarian negotiations since the start of the conflict. Without this behind-the-scenes diplomacy, many of these returns simply would not have happened.

Azovstal, symbol of a resistance that made history

The siege that redefined Ukrainian courage

To understand the full weight of what you represent, dear liberated defenders, we must remember what the siege of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol was like in the spring of 2022. Surrounded, bombed, cut off from supplies, you held out for weeks under conditions few armies could have endured, becoming, despite yourselves, a global symbol of resistance against Russian aggression.

That symbol has lost none of its force four years later. Every Azovstal defender who returns home today revives in Ukrainian and Western collective memory the scale of the sacrifice made to defend Mariupol against a Russian army that ultimately razed the city.

What captivity cost them

According to information relayed by Ukrainian authorities, those released include servicemen suffering from serious illnesses, some having developed cancers or tuberculosis during their detention. The youngest released defender is 26, the oldest 66, a range that reminds us this war has mobilized entire generations of Ukrainians.

The "thousand for thousand" deal, anatomy of a fragile negotiation

A deal born from a three-day ceasefire

This exchange is part of the "thousand for thousand" deal, negotiated in May 2026 during a three-day ceasefire facilitated by the United States. President Donald Trump had announced on his social network at the time that the truce included a suspension of all kinetic activity, along with an exchange of a thousand prisoners on each side.

Since then, the deal has advanced in phases: 205 prisoners exchanged on May 15, 185 on June 5, and now 160 on June 26. At this pace, several more phases will still be needed to reach the full target of a thousand exchanges announced by each side.

A slowness that weighs on families

This step-by-step progression, welcome as it may be, still leaves hundreds, if not thousands, of Ukrainian families waiting. The commander of the 1st Azov Brigade of the National Guard, Denys Prokopenko, noted that more than 700 servicemen of the Azov regiment remain in Russian captivity after five years now, a reality that tempers the enthusiasm sparked by each new exchange.

Trump's murky role in this humanitarian matter

A necessary evil to wring concessions from Moscow

I will not pretend I appreciate everything Donald Trump represents on the international stage. But I must acknowledge, with the same honesty that guides this letter, that his diplomatic pressure helped wring this large-scale exchange deal from the Kremlin, when years of more conventional negotiations had produced only limited results.

It is this permanent tension that defines, in my view, the relationship between the West and Trump: an unpredictable ally, sometimes erratic in his statements, but capable of achieving concrete results where traditional diplomacy has been stalled for years.

The limits of transactional diplomacy

But this transactional approach has its limits. Reducing the release of prisoners of war to a simple exchange negotiated between great powers risks trivializing what remains, fundamentally, a basic humanitarian obligation under international law. Prisoners of war should never be geopolitical bargaining chips, even when this logic produces tangible results.

What this release means for Volodymyr Zelensky

A hero who never forgets his own

I'll say it plainly: Volodymyr Zelensky has embodied, since the start of this war, a leadership that refuses to abandon his soldiers to their fate. His constant presence on these exchange files, his insistence on naming every group of freed defenders, his memory of the units and places of captivity, all of this reflects a personal commitment that goes beyond mere political communication.

In his statement on June 26, Zelensky personally welcomed the return of the defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal, as well as soldiers who held defensive positions in several directions along the front since 2022. This level of detail is not trivial for a head of state in the midst of war.

The promise of an "all for all"

Zelensky also recalled, in an open letter addressed to the Kremlin in June, that Ukraine remains ready for a prisoner exchange under the principle of "all for all," which he presents as a possible prologue to a broader peace settlement. This proposal, if accepted by Moscow, would radically transform the humanitarian dynamic of this conflict.

Russia and the lie of clemency

An exchange that must not whitewash the crimes committed

It must be said clearly: this prisoner exchange must under no circumstances be interpreted as a gesture of goodwill from Vladimir Putin. Russia held these men for four years under conditions documented as inhumane by multiple international organizations. No exchange, however welcome, erases that responsibility.

The Russian Ministry of Defense, for its part, confirmed that 160 Russian servicemen had been returned to Russia, transferred to Belarus to receive care before their final return home. This apparent symmetry in the numbers must not obscure the fundamental moral asymmetry between aggressor and victim in this conflict.

A war that continues despite the exchanges

While these exchanges take place, fighting continues on the front, and Russian bombardments against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure continue relentlessly. It would be dangerous to let these one-off humanitarian gestures mask the continued brutality of the Russian aggression against the whole of Ukrainian territory.

Verifying the missing, an immense humanitarian undertaking

A parallel agreement between ombudsmen

Beyond the exchange itself, the Ukrainian and Russian ombudsmen, Dmytro Lubinets and Yana Lantratova, agreed to continue mutual visits to prisoners of war and the verification of detained individuals. They also exchanged extensive lists of servicemen missing under particular circumstances, to check whether they are being held captive somewhere.

This verification work, less spectacular than the exchanges themselves, nonetheless represents a colossal humanitarian challenge for thousands of Ukrainian families who still do not know the fate of their loved ones missing since the start of the war.

Civilians also freed

On June 27, the day after this military exchange, Ukraine also announced the release of seven civilians illegally detained by Russian occupation forces since the start of the invasion, seized directly from their homes in Mariupol, in the Kyiv region, in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk. This detail is a reminder that Russian captivity affects not only servicemen, but also innocent civilians.

What the West still has to accomplish

Keeping the pressure on Moscow

Dear freed defenders, your return must not become a pretext for the West to ease its pressure on Russia. On the contrary, every successful exchange must strengthen our collective determination to support Ukraine until every remaining prisoner is freed, and until a just peace is reached that never rewards Russian aggression.

I firmly believe that economic sanctions, continued military support, and diplomatic pressure must remain absolute priorities for Western governments, as long as Russia continues to hold Ukrainian prisoners under unacceptable conditions.

Never forgetting those who remain captive

For every defender who comes home, others remain behind Russian bars, sometimes for even longer. The West, and Western media in particular, have a duty to never let attention fade on this issue, even as the news cycle shifts to other international crises.

This is precisely why I chose to write this open letter rather than a simple factual account: because these men and women deserve to have their story told with the emotion and gravity it commands.

The human cost we rarely count

Families rebuilt after four years of absence

Behind every official number lies a family story upended: children who grew up without their father, wives who waited without certainty, aging parents who hoped to see their son one more time. These reunions, joyful as they are, often come with a long psychological rebuilding process for soldiers deeply marked by their captivity.

Ukrainian authorities have specified that all freed defenders will receive medical care, appropriate treatment, documents, financial compensation, and rehabilitation support. This is the bare minimum the Ukrainian nation owes these men who sacrificed everything for it.

A collective trauma that goes beyond individuals

Beyond individual cases, this war has created a collective trauma across an entire nation. Every Ukrainian family knows, directly or indirectly, someone who has been killed, wounded, captured, or displaced by this invasion. It is this collective dimension of the Ukrainian sacrifice that the West must keep honoring with unwavering support.

A universal lesson on the value of perseverance

What your resistance teaches the world

Dear defenders of Mariupol, your resistance at Azovstal will remain in history as an example of courage against a vastly larger military force. You proved that human determination can hold out longer than even the most pessimistic military calculations predict.

This lesson goes beyond the strict scope of this war: it reminds every democracy threatened by authoritarian powers that organized resistance, even seemingly desperate, can inflict a considerable political and symbolic cost on the aggressor, far beyond the immediate battlefield.

A hope that must keep guiding Ukraine

Your return today must serve as inspiration to everyone who still doubts the outcome of this war. Ukraine has resisted for four years against one of the largest armies in the world, and it continues to bring its sons and daughters home, one exchange after another, one negotiation after another.

It is this tenacious hope, this ability to celebrate every humanitarian victory without ever giving up on final military and political victory, that in my view defines the Ukrainian spirit since February 2022.

The discreet but crucial role of the United Arab Emirates

Humanitarian diplomacy far from the spotlight

For several months, the United Arab Emirates has established itself as a discreet but indispensable intermediary in these prisoner exchanges. Far from major international conferences and highly publicized summits, Emirati diplomacy operates in the shadows, through direct contacts between Kyiv and Moscow, enabling the secure transfer of hundreds of soldiers and civilians.

This mediation illustrates how resolving humanitarian crises sometimes requires actors who do not seek the spotlight, but who hold the trust of both belligerents. Without this delicate trust to preserve, none of the seventy-six exchanges recorded since 2022 could have taken place.

A model that could inspire other mediations

The repeated success of this Emirati mediation raises a broader question: why haven't major Western powers invested more in this kind of direct humanitarian diplomacy? The answer likely lies in the very nature of the conflict, where Washington and European capitals are perceived by Moscow as parties to the conflict rather than neutral mediators.

The United Arab Emirates, for its part, maintains economic and diplomatic relations with Russia while supporting certain Ukrainian humanitarian efforts, which gives it a unique position. This role deserves to be praised and documented, because it saves real lives, exchange after exchange.

The unfinished fight to identify the missing

Families still suspended in uncertainty

Beyond the confirmed releases, thousands of Ukrainian families are still waiting for news of loved ones reported missing since the start of the Russian invasion. The recent exchange of lists of missing servicemen between Kyiv and Moscow, reported in late June, marks a necessary but largely insufficient step given the scale of this human tragedy.

Every name added to these lists represents a family that has lived in anguish for sometimes more than four years, not knowing whether their son, husband, or father died in combat, is held in a Russian prison, or went missing in the chaos of the front line.

A wartime bureaucracy that must speed up

Humanitarian organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, have for months called for more systematic cooperation between both sides to speed up the identification of bodies and the location of unregistered prisoners. This wartime bureaucracy, necessary as it is, moves at a pace that remains cruelly insufficient for waiting families.

I believe the international community must exert greater pressure on Moscow to accelerate this humanitarian cooperation, because every month of delay needlessly prolongs the suffering of thousands of Ukrainian loved ones.

What I wish for you, who are finally coming home

The time for healing

Dear freed defenders, I now wish you the time you need to heal, to rebuild, to reclaim a life that was taken from you for four long years. No one can give you back that lost time, but Ukraine, and I hope the entire West, now owes you unconditional support in your recovery.

I also wish that one day you will be able to tell your story without pain overshadowing the legitimate pride you should feel for having held on, for having survived, for having come home despite everything.

A recognition that must last

I promise you, as a columnist, to keep telling your story, that of your comrades still held captive, and that of this Ukrainian nation that refuses to bow to aggression. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten, and I will keep reminding readers of it, exchange after exchange, until every Ukrainian prisoner finally regains their freedom.

This is the promise I make in this letter, with all the humility and respect your journey commands.

Conclusion: a letter that erases nothing, but bears witness

The duty of memory against forgetting

This open letter does not claim to repair four years of captivity, nor to erase the suffering endured by the 160 defenders who returned on June 26. It simply aims to bear witness, on their behalf and on behalf of all those still held captive, that their sacrifice has not gone unnoticed and never will, as long as I keep writing about this war.

The road to peace remains long, strewn with uncertainty and fragile negotiations, but every successful exchange is a concrete humanitarian victory in a conflict that, otherwise, sometimes seems endless.

A call to never look away

I close this letter by calling on every Western reader to never look away from this war, even as media fatigue sets in. These men and women paid an immense price for their country's freedom, and the least we can do, from our comfortable democracies, is to keep telling their story.

Welcome home, defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal. Your country, and a part of the world that admires you, has never forgotten you.

By Maxime Marquette, columnist

Columnist's transparency note

Who I am and my acknowledged biases

I am a columnist-analyst for mad-m.ca, resolutely pro-Ukraine, and I consider Volodymyr Zelensky a courageous leader against Russian aggression. This open letter fully embraces an emotional and engaged dimension, unlike a standard factual article, while strictly relying on verified and sourced facts.

I am neither a soldier, nor a former captive, nor a direct witness to the events at Mariupol or Azovstal. My account relies exclusively on official Ukrainian and Russian statements, as well as reporting from internationally recognized media outlets.

What I don't know and my method

I do not know the precise identities of the 160 servicemen released on June 26, nor the exact details of their detention conditions beyond what has been publicly reported by Ukrainian authorities and humanitarian organizations. I name this limitation rather than speculate on details I cannot verify.

My method consists of cross-referencing official statements from both parties to the conflict with reports from recognized independent media, clearly flagging every passage that reflects my personal opinion rather than an established fact.

Sources

Primary sources

Ukraine and Russia complete third phase of 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange — RBC-Ukraine, June 26, 2026

Russia and Ukraine swap 160 soldiers each in latest prisoner exchange — Euronews, June 26, 2026

Secondary sources

Ukraine, Russia swap lists of missing military personnel — RBC-Ukraine, June 27, 2026

More than half of NGU fighters returned from captivity — Interfax-Ukraine, June 16, 2026

75th Prisoner Exchange: 186 Ukrainians Liberated From Captivity — Militarnyi, June 5, 2026

Ukrainian defenders released from captivity sing national anthem — Ukrainska Pravda, June 5, 2026