Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday exchanged lots of of prisoners of conflict, within the first such swap in nearly 5 months.
Russia launched 230 POWs, amongst them 213 troopers and sergeants, 11 officers and 6 civilians, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned on social media. In trade, Ukraine launched 248 Russian army personnel in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates, Moscow’s protection ministry mentioned.
“We managed to free over 200 of our individuals from Russian captivity,” Zelenskyy introduced. “Warriors and — very importantly — civilians.”
The UAE mentioned in an announcement that it was “one of many largest exchanges of captives between the 2 sides because the starting of the conflict” in February 2022.
Kyiv and Moscow have performed a number of prisoner swaps since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost two years in the past, however no trade had been introduced for nearly 5 months, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of utilizing POWs as a political weapon.
“There was an extended pause within the exchanges, however there was no pause within the negotiations concerning the exchanges,” Zelenskyy mentioned in his deal with saying Wednesday’s swap. “We’re seizing each alternative, trying each mediation format … We are going to preserve working to convey again all of our individuals.”
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights, mentioned this was the forty ninth prisoner trade and that 2,828 Ukrainians have been freed because the begin of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
