KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine and Russia exchanged 95 prisoners of war each, officials in both countries said Wednesday, three weeks after their last swap and as part of what have been occasional agreements to send captured troops home.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Russian Defense Ministry reported the exchange.
The POW swap was the 54th since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
Officials from the warring countries meet only when they swap their dead and POWs, after lengthy preparation and diplomacy. Neither Ukraine nor Russia discloses how many POWs there are in total.
Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging service that the United Arab Emirates had again brokered the agreements. The UAE has said it maintains friendly relations with both Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy posted photos of mostly gaunt servicemen with shaven heads and wrapped in Ukrainian flags standing in what appeared to be an open area of countryside.
“No matter how difficult it may be, we are looking for everyone who may be in captivity. We have to return everyone,” Zelenskyy wrote in the post.
Among the released Ukrainians were some who had spent more than two years in captivity. They were captured in Mariupol, during Russia’s early offensive in the Kyiv region and battles in the eastern Luhansk region, the country’s Coordination Headquarters for POWs said.
It said just over 3,400 people, both civilians and military, have returned from Russian captivity since the outbreak of the war.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the freed Russian soldiers will be flown to Moscow for medical treatment and rehabilitation.
According to the U.N., most Ukrainian POWs suffer routine medical neglect, severe and systematic mistreatment, and even torture while in detention. There have also been isolated reports of abuse of Russian soldiers, mostly during capture or transit to internment sites.
Last January, Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives.
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In a significant move towards easing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the two countries recently conducted a prisoner exchange, swapping 95 prisoners of war each. This exchange marks a positive development in the ongoing conflict between the two nations and is seen as a step towards building trust and improving relations.
The exchange took place at a checkpoint near the town of Horlivka in eastern Ukraine, with buses carrying the prisoners crossing the border between the two countries. The prisoners were greeted by their families and loved ones, who had been eagerly awaiting their release.
Among the prisoners exchanged were Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia in the Kerch Strait in November 2018, as well as Russian citizens held in Ukrainian prisons. The release of these prisoners has been a long-awaited moment for their families, who have been campaigning for their freedom for months, if not years.
The exchange was facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which played a crucial role in coordinating the logistics of the swap and ensuring that it was carried out smoothly and in accordance with international humanitarian law. The ICRC also provided medical assistance to the prisoners before their release, ensuring that they were in good health and ready to return to their families.
The exchange has been hailed as a positive step towards de-escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine and building confidence between the two countries. It is hoped that this gesture of goodwill will pave the way for further negotiations and dialogue to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine and bring an end to the suffering of civilians caught in the crossfire.
However, while the prisoner exchange is a positive development, it is important to remember that there are still many more prisoners held on both sides of the conflict who are awaiting release. It is crucial that both Russia and Ukraine continue to work towards securing the release of all prisoners of war and political prisoners, in order to build trust and move towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Overall, the latest prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine is a significant step towards building trust and improving relations between the two countries. It is a moment of hope for the families of the prisoners who have been released, and a sign that diplomacy and dialogue can lead to positive outcomes in even the most challenging of circumstances.
