Female Ukrainian soldiers sing on return home after prisoner swap

This is the moment female Ukrainian soldiers – including servicewomen who fought at Azostval steelworks – sing the Ukrainian national anthem on a bus along with civilians as they all return home from Russian captivity.The footage begins with the women seen mostly sitting on the bus taking them home, but one by one they stand up as they sing with their hands on their hearts.The verses from the Ukrainian national anthem that they can be seen singing are (in English):"[...] fate shall smile."Our enemies shall vanish, like dew in the sun."We too shall rule, brothers, our country."Soul and body shall we lay down for our freedom,"And we will show, brothers, that we are of the Cossack nation!"At the end of the footage, a man's voice can be heard saying: "Glory to Ukraine!"And the women reply in unison: "Glory to the heroes!"The 108 military and civilian Ukrainian women were freed from Russian captivity as a result of work carried out by the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.The Ukrainian women reportedly returned home on Monday, 17th October.The images were obtained from the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on Tuesday, 18th October, along with a statement saying: "Another exchange of prisoners of war took place. 108 Ukrainian women returned home."As part of the work of the Coordination Headquarters, 108 Ukrainian women - military and civilian - were freed from captivity. [...]"And the Office of the President of Ukraine also issued a statement on the evening of Monday, 17th October, saying: "As a result of another large-scale exchange of prisoners, Ukraine released 108 women from captivity, including 96 military personnel and 12 civilians."Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubinets and Deputy Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense Dmitry Usov reported on the details of the operation to Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak.In particular, it was possible to release 35 representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 32 defenders from the ranks of the Naval Forces, 12 from the Territorial Defence Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 8 from the National Guard of Ukraine (including 2 from the Azov Special Forces), 5 from the State special transport service, 4 from the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (a total of 11 officers, 85 privates and sergeants)."The statement also said that among those released are 37 women evacuated from Azovstal, as well as citizens who were illegally detained even before the large-scale invasion of the Russian Federation for having "too pro-Ukrainian position."Yermak said: "We managed to carry out not just another large-scale exchange of prisoners. This is the first time an all-female exchange has taken place. Today we managed to free 108 women from captivity."Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a "special military operation". Today marks the 237th day of the war.The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 18th October, Russia had lost about 65,850 personnel, 2,548 tanks, 5,219 armoured combat vehicles, 1,622 artillery units, 372 multiple launch rocket systems, 188 air defence systems, 268 warplanes, 242 helicopters, 1,276 drones, 318 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 3,985 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 144 units of special equipment.Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.A series of kamikaze drone strikes hit the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday, killing four people. The Ukrainian authorities have said that these were Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones.The United States’ State Department has said that it agrees with the United Kingdom and France that these drones violate UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which bars Iran from transferring certain military technologies abroad.Iran has so far denied supplying the drones to Russia but US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel has said that the United States has “exposed publicly that Russia has received drones from Iran, that this was part of Russia’s plan to import hundreds of Iranian UAVs of various types.”Patel also said that there was “extensive proof” of Russia using them in Ukraine.But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday: “The published news about Iran providing Russia with drones has political ambitions and it is circulated by western sources. We have not provided weaponry to any side of the countries at war.”Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Denys Shmygal, has said that Russia launched five strikes on Kyiv. He also said that there were attacks against energy infrastructure in Sumy and the central Dnipropetrovsk regions, which deprived power to hundreds of towns.The Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, has called on the European Union to sanction