Ukrainian prisoners of struggle seen following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, on 18 October 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP Photograph/Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout)
- Russia and Ukraine exchanged 95 prisoners every, with the UAE mediating the settlement.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted the return of prisoners and famous ongoing efforts to free extra captives.
- The UAE’s Overseas Ministry acknowledged this was their ninth mediation effort within the struggle, reflecting their cooperative relations with each nations.
Russia and Ukraine carried out a brand new change of prisoners of struggle on Friday, all sides bringing dwelling 95 prisoners in an settlement during which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) acted as mediator.
Russia’s Defence Ministry, in a submit on the Telegram messaging app, mentioned the returning Russian service members had been present process medical checks in Belarus, certainly one of Russia’s closest allies within the practically three-year-old struggle.
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Video posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Telegram account confirmed males, some wrapped within the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag, getting off a bus nicely after darkish and being embraced by family members.
A Russian army video confirmed smiling troopers boarding buses.
“Each time Ukraine rescues its individuals from Russian captivity, we get nearer to the day when freedom will likely be returned to all who’re in Russian captivity,” Zelensky wrote.
The president mentioned the freed prisoners had served on numerous fronts, together with some who had defended the port metropolis of Mariupol for practically three months in 2022.
Ukrainian information experiences mentioned the returnees included Ukrainian journalist and rights advocate Maksym Butkevych, convicted by a Russian court docket of taking pictures at Russian forces.
‘Trade fund’
The physique coordinating the affairs of prisoners of struggle mentioned 48 of the returnees had been handed sentences by the Russian judicial system.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights, mentioned the discharge was the 58th for the reason that starting of the struggle and introduced to three 767 the overall variety of prisoners returned dwelling.
A personal Russian group that claims it takes care of the pursuits of prisoners of struggle, printed a listing of returnees and mentioned most of them had been captured within the Kursk area, the place Ukrainian forces staged an incursion in August.
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In his remarks, Zelensky once more referred to troopers in that operation who “replenish the change fund”, that means the seize of Russian prisoners for use as a bargaining chip in exchanges.
Ukrainian forces stay in Kursk, although Russia’s army says its forces have clawed again among the captured territory.
An announcement from the UAE’s Overseas Ministry, reported by state media, mentioned it was the Gulf state’s ninth occasion of mediation within the struggle. It described the change as “a mirrored image of the cooperative and pleasant relations between the UAE and each nations”.
The final identified prisoner swap – involving 103 prisoners from all sides – came about in September.
