Russia and Ukraine have conducted a major exchange of prisoners on Wednesday, 190 Prisoners of War (PoW) were released , in their third such swap over the past seven weeks, following negotiations mediated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said all 95 Ukrainians who were freed were from the military, and thanked the UAE for its help.
Russia’s defence ministry, in a statement on Telegram, said the returning soldiers would receive medical examinations and physical and psychological rehabilitation. It said the freed troops had faced “mortal danger” in Ukrainian captivity.
The prisoner exchange was the third over the past seven weeks, with the first announced at the end of May.
Kyiv has secured the return of 3,405 people from Russian captivity since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian Coordinating Committee on Dealing with Prisoners of War said. It said seven officers and 88 soldiers and sergeants were freed, and most had been in captivity since 2022.
The committee posted a video showing Ukrainian troops boarding buses to be transported home and cheering. It showed one serviceman, wrapped in the blue and yellow national flag, saying into his mobile phone: “I still cannot believe that I am at home.”
Twenty-three people had taken part in the three-month defence of the Sea of Azov port of Mariupol, and were captured by Russian forces in May 2022, the committee said.
“Many returning Ukrainian soldiers suffer from consequences of their wounds and have chronic diseases that require long-term treatment,” the panel said on Telegram. In the second exchange that took place last month, Russia and Ukraine each repatriated 90 prisoners.
Strengthened by long-delayed Western aid, Ukraine’s forces have struggled for months to hold the line against Russian troops inching forward in the east. Many weary Ukrainian troops are desperate to be replaced after more than two years of virtually non-stop service with no clarity on when they will be demobilized from an armed forces of around 1 million.
Ukraine is experiencing problems with recruitment. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lowered the draft age to 25 from 27 in April and signed off on an overhaul of the mobilisation process that entered force in May, obliging men under 60 to renew their personal data at draft offices or online.
(With inputs from Reuters)
