HANDOUT / AFP
This photo distributed by the press service of the President of Ukraine on January 3, 2024 shows Ukrainian soldiers released during a prisoner of war exchange with Russia.
INTERNATIONAL – A first since the summer. Russia and Ukraine announced on Wednesday, January 3, that they had exchanged more than 230 prisoners of war as attacks by those two countries escalated. According to Ukrainian media, the previous exchange of prisoners of war dates back to last August.
“After a complex negotiation process, 248 Russian soldiers were repatriated from areas controlled by the Kiev regime,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Telegram. “More than 200 of our soldiers and civilians have been freed from Russian captivity,” Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram, posting a video of men in uniform celebrating the event.
HANDOUT / AFP
“More than 200 of our soldiers and civilians have been freed from Russian captivity,” Zelensky said on Telegram, posting a video of men in uniform celebrating the event.
Fighters from the Battle of Mariupol
According to the Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Loubinets, “49. “Exchange” between Kiev and Moscow since the beginning of the Russian attack in February 2022, exactly 230 Ukrainian soldiers have been exchanged (Ukrainian) defenders, “said the Ukrainian coordination center responsible for prisoners of war.
Among the prisoners were some Ukrainians who had been imprisoned since 2022. Several of them fought in significant battles, notably the naval battle on Serpents Island and the land battle in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. In total, “2,828 (Ukrainian) defenders have returned home” since February 24, 2022, Dmytro Loubinets said on Wednesday. For their part, Russian officials did not provide any further details about the exchange.
A 49th exchange brokered by the United Arab Emirates
However, the exchange announced this Wednesday comes against the backdrop of an intensification of violence between Russians and Ukrainians in recent days, with attacks on both sides killing and wounding dozens of civilians. According to Kiev and Moscow, the exchange was made possible through the mediation of the United Arab Emirates, an important partner of Russia on several humanitarian, economic and energy issues.
At the end of November, Dmytro Loubinets accused Russia of blocking any exchange of prisoners of war. “The exchange is not taking place because Russia doesn’t want it,” he complained. There would still be thousands of prisoners of war on both sides. In recent months, Moscow has increased the number of trials in order to impose very high sentences on Ukrainian prisoners of war.
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