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KYIV – Ukraine and Russia exchanged nearly 500 prisoners of war on Wednesday – including Ukrainian military personnel captured during fighting at the Azov Valley steel plant in Mariupol and on Snake Island in the Black Sea – a sign that talks between Kiev and Moscow are continuing continue, even if the two are still ongoing The two sides appear to be frozen in the peace negotiations.
It was the largest trade since Russian troops entered the country almost two years ago, Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for Prisoner of War Issues said in a post on Telegram. Officials from the United Arab Emirates helped mediate the trial, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian officials said 230 of their military personnel had returned home, while the Russians said 248 of them had been released. None of the figures could be independently verified.
“Over a long period of time, we managed to carry out a very complex exchange,” said Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence and head of Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War – the military group that deals with prisoner of war issues.
In a video posted on social media at the site of the Ukrainians' return, Budanov said that the released Ukrainians included “a combat medic, defenders of Snake Island, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Azov Valley, border guards, police, national guard and gunmen.” Forces – that is, absolutely all categories.”
“This exchange has been prepared for long enough,” Budanov said.
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated on Telegram that “all released Russian soldiers will be provided with the necessary medical and psychological assistance.”
However, Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said 75 of the Russian prisoners of war were returned “without exchange,” Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported – meaning the main trade involved 173 soldiers from both sides.
RIA quoted an unnamed “source” as saying the additional 75 Russians were released in exchange for five Ukrainian commanders of the Azov battalion, who returned to Ukraine in July.
The Azov members were captured by Russian forces early in the war and were reportedly under house arrest under Ankara's supervision. RIA said the commanders returned to Ukraine “in violation of all agreements.”
On Wednesday, photos and videos posted on social media showed Ukrainian prisoners of war, many with Ukrainian flags over their shoulders, being greeted upon their return and singing the country's national anthem.
“Our [fighters] are at home,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on Telegram, announcing the news of the exchange. “We will do everything we can to bring back all of our people who are currently in Russian captivity.”
Petro Yatsenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Prisoner of War Coordination headquarters, said that seven released Ukrainian military personnel were initially captured during fighting on Snake Island – the site of a strategic Ukrainian base in the Black Sea that Russian forces captured in the early days of the war.
The garrison there gained international notoriety after its soldiers reportedly responded with an expletive to a Russian ship's demand to surrender.
Yatsenko also said that 12 of the returnees were captured at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Plant – a sprawling industrial complex in the southern city of Mariupol that has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. Hundreds of Ukrainian fighters and civilians withstood a months-long Russian siege and finally succumbed to Moscow forces in May last year.
The prisoner exchange marks a positive note for the fighting in eastern Ukraine, where both sides have been engaged in a brutal conflict that relies heavily on trench warfare and artillery battles with little territorial gains.
Over the New Year holiday, Russian forces launched a heavy bombardment with drones and missiles that killed dozens and injured hundreds across the country, aiming to cause damage beyond the front lines.
In a recent interview with The Economist, Zelensky said he sees “no fundamental progress toward peace from Russia” that could lead to negotiations with the Kremlin. Instead, he said he saw “only the steps of a terrorist country.”
Serhiy Morgunov in Warsaw and Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova in Riga contributed to this report.