Russia and Ukraine exchanged more than 300 prisoners of war as part of a trade negotiated through the United Arab Emirates ahead of New Year’s Eve, officials from the two countries said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday it had exchanged 150 Ukrainian prisoners, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy said 189 Ukrainians had returned home.
There is no difference between the reported figures.
“The return of our Russian captive people is very good news for all of us. And today is one of those days: our team managed to bring 189 Ukrainians home, “Zelensky published in the Telegram messaging application.
He said the swap included two civilians captured in the southern port city of Mariupol in 2022 as he thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the exchange.
Pictures released by Zelenskyy showed dozens of men sitting in a bus, some of them wrapped in Ukraine’s national blue and yellow flags.
A video released through Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkoa showed infantrymen piling up outside bus gates, dressed in winter and army fatigue.
“Thank you for your service, your patience and your courage,” Moskalkova said, wishing them a satisfied holiday season.
“Very soon, our boys will kiss their parents and friends and celebrate the New Year in their local country,” he wrote in a Telegram message accompanying the video.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the freed POWs were provided both psychological and medical assistance in neighbouring Belarus, a key Moscow ally, before heading for home.
There have been 60 other prisoner exchanges since the start of the war in February 2022. The last exchange took place in mid-October, when the two countries exchanged 95 prisoners of war.
Ukraine said on Monday that Moscow had posted a general of another 3,956 people, infantry and civilians, under agreements with Kyiv since the conflict began. Zelensky vowed to continue pushing for the release of remaining prisoners of war.
“We continue to paint to lose each and every user of Russian captivity. This is our purpose and we will not do it to anyone. I thank the team that everyone is doing to bring our other people home,” he wrote.
The prisoner swap came as U. S. President Joe Biden announced Monday that the U. S. would send nearly $2. 5 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine, while his leadership is temporarily set to spend all the money it has in Kyiv to fight Russia ahead of the president’s election. Donald Trump. assumes office.