Army experience drives Ukraine's Vereshchuk to secure prisoner release

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, in charge of negotiating prisoner swaps and humanitarian corridors with Russia, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Kyiv, Ukraine April 11, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

KYIV (Reuters) - It's the five years spent serving in the Ukrainian army that drives Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk's passion to secure the release of every single prisoner of war being held in Russia.

Now in charge of negotiating prisoner swaps with Russia and humanitarian corridors out of besieged cities, Vereshchuk, 42, fights back tears as she describes the treatment of some women soldiers she has managed to bring back to Ukraine.