Zelenskyy for the Troops: More POWs for Exchange

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy has called on his troops to capture more Russian soldiers. “Everyone at the front must remember that the more Russian prisoners of war we take, the more of our people will return,” Zelenskyy said in his evening video address on Thursday.

He welcomed a prisoner exchange on Thursday, in which 106 Ukrainian servicemen were handed over by the Russian side. They fought in the Bakhmut city area, which is now almost completely destroyed, Zelensky said. Among them are eight officers. Many of the returned soldiers had already been reported missing. Moscow claims to have captured Bakhmut since the weekend. Kyiv denies this.

Zelenskyy did not specify how many Russians were handed over in the exchange. The head of the Russian Private Wagner Army, Yevgeny Prigozhin, previously posted a video of a prisoner exchange. Russia has been waging a war of aggression in Ukraine for over 15 months.