Russia and Ukraine Exchange War Prisoners
Image using the flags of Ukraine (L) and Russia (R). X/ @MenaToday1
December 30, 2024 Hour: 11:14 am
Since 2022, over 45 prisoner-of-war exchanges have been conducted between these countries.
On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that its country and Ukraine conducted a new exchange of 150 prisoners from each side.
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“Following a negotiation process, 150 Russian military personnel were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In exchange, 150 prisoners of war from Ukraine’s Armed Forces were handed over,” the Russian command stated.
“At present, the Russian military personnel are on Belarusian territory, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical care, and they have been given the opportunity to contact their families.”
“All the liberated military personnel will be transferred to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation at medical facilities of the Ministry of Defense,” it added, noting that the prisoner exchange was made possible through the humanitarian mediation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
This was the first prisoner exchange since October 18, when 95 prisoners were swapped on each side. Since then, Russia has accused Ukraine on several occasions of sabotaging prisoner exchanges by focusing its attention on the swap of fighters from “nationalist battalions.”
These Ukrainian battalions have been the most combative units of Ukraine’s Armed Forces since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in 2022. Initially, they were not part of Ukraine’s regular army but were later integrated into Kyiv’s Armed Forces.
Since 2022, more than 45 prisoner-of-war exchanges have been conducted between Russia and Ukraine, during which each side recovered approximately 3,000 military personnel. In 2024, Russia proposed handing over 935 prisoners of war to Ukraine, of which Kyiv accepted only 279.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
