• The UK government says that Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, John Harding, Dylan Healy, and Andrew Hill were freed as part of a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia.
• Two American veterans and three people from Morocco, Sweden, and Croatia were also set free.
• The UK government has not yet said what steps were taken to get the group out of prison.

As part of a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia, five British people have been set free, the UK government said on Thursday.

The government says that Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, John Harding, Dylan Healy, and Andrew Hill have all been set free.

As part of a deal made by Saudi Arabia, two American veterans and three people from Morocco, Sweden, and Croatia were also set free.

The Presidium Network, a non-profit group that has been helping Healy’s family, told the BBC on Thursday that all five British citizens are “back safely in the UK.”

The co-founder of the Presidium Network, Dominik Byrne, also said that the British soldiers who were freed after being captured while fighting with Ukrainian forces were “looking forward to normalcy with their families after this horrible ordeal.”

The reputed media report also said that the UK government has not yet said what steps were taken to get the group out of prison.

The release of the group was first announced by British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Wednesday.

“Hugely welcome news that five British nationals held by Russian-backed proxies in eastern Ukraine are being safely returned, ending months of uncertainty and suffering for them and their families,” she said in a tweet.

Truss thanked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “for his efforts to get detainees released” and Saudi Arabia for its “assistance.”

[embedpost slug=”leaders-denounce-russias-aggression-in-ukraine/”]