Russia and Ukraine have exchanged lots of of prisoners of warfare within the greatest single launch of captives because the battle started in February 2022.
Ukrainian authorities mentioned 230 Ukrainian prisoners of warfare returned house within the first change in virtually 5 months on Wednesday.
Russia’s defence ministry mentioned 248 Russian servicemen have been freed on the identical day beneath the deal sponsored by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked the “warriors on the frontline who take the occupiers prisoner and replenish our change fund”.
He added: “The extra Russians we take prisoner, the more practical negotiations on exchanges might be.”
The UAE’s overseas ministry attributed the swap on Wednesday to the “robust pleasant relations between the UAE and each the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ukraine, which had been supported by sustained calls on the highest ranges”.
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The UAE has maintained shut financial ties with Moscow regardless of Western sanctions and stress on Russia after it launched its invasion.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, mentioned it was the forty ninth prisoner change through the warfare.
A few of the Ukrainians had been held since 2022. Amongst them had been a few of those that fought in milestone battles for Ukraine’s Snake Island and town of Mariupol.
Russian officers provided no different particulars of the change.
Ukrainian prisoners of warfare are seen in an unknown location after the swap
Launched Ukrainian prisoners of warfare are seen in an unknown location after the swap
The Russian navy in the meantime mentioned it had shot down 12 Ukrainian missiles over Russia’s southern Belgorod area bordering Ukraine.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov mentioned the state of affairs within the regional capital, additionally referred to as Belgorod, “stays tense”.
The town got here beneath two rounds of shelling on Wednesday, he wrote on Telegram.
“Air defence methods labored,” he mentioned, promising extra particulars about attainable injury after inspecting the realm later within the day.
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A freed Ukrainian prisoner smokes a cigarette after the swap
Belgorod, which has a inhabitants of round 340,000 folks, is the largest Russian metropolis near the Ukrainian border. It may be reached by comparatively easy and movable weapons comparable to a number of rocket launchers.
On Saturday, shelling in Belgorod killed greater than two dozen folks.
The assault was one of many deadliest on Russian soil since Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
On Monday, Mr Putin lashed out on the Belgorod assaults.
“They wish to intimidate us and create uncertainty inside our nation,” he mentioned, promising to step up retaliatory strikes.
Ukrainian officers by no means acknowledge duty for strikes on Russian territory.
