KYIV: Russia and Ukraine exchanged 205 prisoners of struggle every on Friday (Might 15), Moscow and Kyiv stated, per week after US President Donald Trump introduced a big swap would happen between the warring sides.
The Russian defence ministry stated in a press release on social media that “205 Russian servicemen have been returned from territory” managed by Kyiv, including that, “in alternate, 205 Ukrainian armed forces prisoners of struggle have been transferred”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Telegram a lot of the Ukrainians handed over had been in Russian captivity since 2022.
Trump stated final week that Russia and Ukraine would perform a mutual swap of 1,000 prisoners as he introduced a three-day US-brokered ceasefire that lined Russia’s Might 9 parade celebrating the defeat of the Nazis.
Either side have traded accusations of violating the truce and Ukraine has accused Moscow of ramping up its strikes in opposition to civilians after it expired, killing at least 24 in an air barrage on Kyiv on Thursday.
“That is the primary part of the 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner alternate,” Zelenskyy stated.
He posted footage of the launched Ukrainians, wrapped in nationwide blue-and-yellow flags, smiling and embracing one another.
Zelenskyy stated they included troops who fought within the bloody battle for Mariupol’s steelworks Azovtsal and people who defended Chernobyl, which briefly fell to Moscow initially of its invasion.
The POW swaps stay one of many few remaining areas of cooperation between the 2 sides, at struggle since Russia ordered troops into its neighbour in February 2022.
Moscow’s defence ministry stated its troops have been delivered to its ally Belarus, the place “they’re receiving the required psychological and medical help”.
It added that “the United Arab Emirates supplied humanitarian help throughout the return of the Russian servicemen from captivity”.
