103 prisoners of war from each side have been released in a swap brought about by the UAE, which has earlier successfully negotiated similar swaps. The Russian Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that 103 Ukrainian soldiers were exchanged for 103 Russian servicemen.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky seemed visibly relieved, saying, “Our people are home. ” The exchange of 206 prisoners was the eighth such mediation by the UAE, mentioned in a post on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Gulf Nation’s social media handle.
Mr. Zelenskyy also explained that among the liberated Ukrainians, there are 82 privates and sergeants, as well as 21 officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and the police.
The Russian Defence Ministry stated that 103 Russian servicemen had been brought over from the territories Ukraine controlled, except that it was mutual.
Earlier, in August, both countries also swapped 115 prisoners each with the help of the UAE as the mediator. Since the Russian large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prisoners have been exchanged, though no peace talks have been initiated. The UAE stated that in total, the number of captives exchanged through the mediation has been 1,994, with a large number of 478 captives exchanged in January.
