Ukraine and Russia have exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war under a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates – in what is being described as the largest swap of the conflict.
Kiev confirmed that 230 Ukrainians had been returned home, while the Russian Defense Ministry said 248 Russian soldiers had been freed from captivity.
President Zelensky celebrated the return of “warriors and civilians” and said some of the released soldiers took part in the brutal Russian siege of Mariupol in the early months of the war.
“Our people are home,” he wrote on X, adding: “I thank everyone who, despite all the difficulties, is bringing our people home.” I am grateful to our defenders. “We are making every effort to bring back all our people who are still in Russian captivity.”
Pictures show dozens of men wrapped in Ukrainian flags being transported home from captivity. There were scenes of jubilation as they set foot on Ukrainian soil again, many for the first time in months.
Pictures show dozens of men wrapped in Ukrainian flags after being returned to their country
Ukrainian prisoners of war were transported back home by bus after their release from captivity
Ukrainian men hugged each other after being released by Russia on January 3 as part of a major prisoner swap
Ukraine said last month that it had freed some 2,598 people from Russian captivity in 48 exchanges
The exchange followed other such agreements early in the war, but the process had slowed in recent months, with Zelensky saying in December that Russia's own “very specific reasons” were responsible.
Ukraine said last month that it had freed some 2,598 people from Russian captivity in 48 transfers since the all-out war began in February 2022.
As the war nears its two-year mark, fighting continues to rage between the two sides, with Putin vowing in his New Year's address that Russia will “never withdraw from Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, the Russian military said it had fired 12 Ukrainian missiles over Russia's southern Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine. Kiev's armed forces are trying to embarrass President Vladimir Putin and undermine his argument that life continues as normal in Russia despite the 22-month war.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the situation in the regional capital, also called Belgorod, “remains tense.”
The city was shelled twice on Wednesday, he wrote on Telegram.
“The air defense systems were working,” he said, promising more details about possible damage after inspecting the area later in the day. Wednesday is a national holiday in Russia.
Smiling Ukrainian men pose for a photo after being sent home as part of a major prisoner exchange
Ukrainian prisoners of war call their relatives after their release by Russia
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine fired two Tochka-U missiles and seven rockets into the region late Tuesday and then fired six Tochka-U missiles and six Vilkha missiles on Wednesday morning.
The Soviet-built Tochka-U tactical missile system has a range of up to 75 miles (120 km). It has a huge warhead that can carry cluster munitions. Ukraine has received some cluster munitions from the US, but Tochka-U and Vilkha can use their own cluster munitions.
President Zelensky celebrated the return of “warriors and civilians.” Pictured at his year-end address last month
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with soldiers wounded in Ukraine during a visit to the Vishnevsky Central Military Hospital in Moscow on January 1, 2024
The Russian side of the border with Ukraine has been frequently attacked in recent days.
During the war, Russian border villages were sporadically attacked by Ukrainian artillery fire, rockets, mortar shells and drones fired from dense forests where they were difficult to detect.
As missiles and drones recently struck Ukrainian cities, Kiev's troops targeted the regional capital Belgorod, about 100 kilometers north of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.
With around 340,000 inhabitants, Belgorod is the largest Russian city near the Ukrainian border. It can be achieved with relatively simple and mobile weapons such as multiple rocket launchers.
More than two dozen people were killed in shelling in Belgorod on Saturday.
Residents throw furniture out the window of a destroyed high-rise building after a Russian missile attack in central Kiev on January 3, 2024
Utility workers repair water pipes in front of a high-rise building destroyed after a Russian missile attack in central Kiev January 3, 2024
The attack was one of the deadliest on Russian soil since the full-scale invasion of Moscow.
Russian officials said the death toll rose to 26, including five children, after a new volley of rockets on Tuesday.
The attack on Belgorod and the disruption of city life is dramatic evidence for Ukraine that it can strike back against Russia, which outnumbers and outguns Kiev's forces.
On Monday, Putin criticized the attacks in Belgorod.
“They want to intimidate us and create insecurity in our country,” he said, vowing to step up retaliatory strikes.
The Russian government has tried to counter the successful attacks by labeling Ukrainians as “terrorists” who indiscriminately target residential areas, while insisting that the Russian military only targets depots, weapons factories and other military facilities.
Ukrainian officials never acknowledge responsibility for attacks on Russian territory.