KYIV: Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 372 troopers in a prisoner swap brokered by the United Arab Emirates, Moscow and Kyiv mentioned on Wednesday (Mar 19).
Prisoner swaps and the exchange of remains of killed troopers is among the solely areas of cooperation between the warring international locations because the Kremlin launched the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
The Kremlin introduced the swap on Tuesday, following talks between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The Russian defence ministry mentioned it had handed over 175 Ukrainian prisoners of battle and 22 “critically wounded” Ukrainian captives whereas Kyiv had delivered 175 Russian prisoners in return.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the trade as one of many largest of the battle and mentioned that some among the many Ukrainians launched had been “persecuted by Russia for fictitious crimes”.
Zelenskyy mentioned that among the Ukrainians returned on Wednesday had fought within the southern metropolis of Mariupol, which was subjected to a brutal siege by Russian forces within the early months of their invasion.
The Ukrainian chief, who has referred to as for an all-for-all trade with Russia as a part of ceasefire negotiations, thanked the UAE for its mediation and vowed to return all prisoners.
