Russia, Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in an agreement brokered by UAE. russia-ukraine war news
While the Russian Defense Ministry says the New Year deal swapped 150 prisoners, Zelensky welcomed 189 Ukrainians home.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more than 300 prisoners of war (POWs) in a UAE-brokered exchange ahead of New Year’s Eve, officials from both countries said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday it had exchanged 150 Ukrainian prisoners, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 189 Ukrainians had returned home.
There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy in the reported numbers.
“The return of our people from Russian captivity is always very good news for each of us. And today is one of such days: our team managed to bring 189 Ukrainians home,” Zelensky posted on the Telegram messaging app.
The swap also includes two citizens captured in the southern port city of Mariupol in 2022, he said, as he thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the swap.
Photos released by Zelensky showed dozens of people sitting on a bus, some of them draped in Ukraine’s national blue and yellow flag.
A video published by Russia’s human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova showed soldiers wearing winter clothes and military fatigues outside buses.
“I thank you for your service, patience and courage,” Moskalkova said, wishing them happy New Year holidays.
“Very soon our people will embrace their relatives and friends and celebrate the New Year in their native land,” he wrote in a Telegram message accompanying the video.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the freed POWs were provided psychological and medical assistance in neighboring Belarus, a key Moscow ally, before being flown home.
There have been 60 separate prisoner exchanges since the war began 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 released a total of 3,956 people – soldiers and civilians – in agreement with Kiev since the beginning of the conflict. Zelensky promised to continue efforts to free the remaining prisoners of war.
“We will continue to work to free every single person from Russian captivity. This is our goal and we will not forget anyone. I thank the team that is doing everything to bring our people home,” he wrote.
The prisoner swap came as US President Joe Biden announced on Monday that the United States would send about $2.5 billion more weapons to Ukraine as his administration seeks to help Kiev fight Russia ahead of President-elect Donald Trump. Working quickly to spend all the money available. Takes charge.
