Kiev- Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war on Monday. Russia and Ukraine exchanged 372 soldiers in a prisoner swap brokered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Moscow and Kiev said on Wednesday.
The Kremlin said the exchange of prisoners and remains of killed soldiers had been the only area of cooperation between the warring countries since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
The Kremlin announced the exchange on Tuesday after talks between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the exchange as the biggest incident of the war, saying some of the released Ukrainians were being “persecuted by Russia for imaginary crimes.”
Zelensky said some of the Ukrainians who returned on Wednesday had fought in the southern city of Mariupol, which Russian forces had brutally besieged in the early months of the invasion.
The Ukrainian leader, who has called for an exchange for all with Russia as part of ceasefire talks, thanked the UAE for its mediation and promised to return all prisoners.
“All Russian servicemen are in Belarus, where they are being provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance and given the opportunity to contact their relatives,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The two sides have exchanged hundreds of prisoners since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Agency
372 prisoner-of-war exchange between Russia and Ukraine
