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Manila Bulletin devider World devider Hundreds freed in latest prisoner exchange between Russia, Ukraine

Hundreds freed in latest prisoner exchange between Russia, Ukraine

Published Dec 31, 2024 06:40 am

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that saw the release of hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates, officials said Monday.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and national guards — along with two civilians — were freed. He thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the exchange.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 150 Russian soldiers were freed from captivity as part of the exchange in which each side released 150 people.

The reason for the discrepancy in numbers wasn’t immediately clear.

“We are working to free everyone from Russian captivity,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “We do not forget anyone.” He posted pictures of Ukrainian soldiers sitting on a bus, some holding the country’s blue-and-yellow flags.

Zelenskyy said that those freed from Russian captivity included defenders of the Snake Island off the Black Sea port of Odesa, which was seized by Russia in the opening days of its invasion, as well as troops who defended the city of Mariupol, that was captured by Moscow’s forces early in the war after a nearly three-month siege.

“The return of our people from Russian captivity is always very good news for each of us,” Zelenskyy said. “And today is one of those days: our team managed to return 189 Ukrainians home.”

In Moscow, the Defense Ministry said that Russian servicemen were first taken to the territory of Russia’s neighbor and ally Belarus, where they received “psychological and medical assistance” before moving to Russia.

Russia and Ukraine have conducted dozens of such prisoner exchanges during the nearly three-year war.

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