Russia and Ukraine exchanged 84 prisoners each on Thursday, both sides said, the latest in a series of swaps that has seen hundreds of POWs released so far this year.
This latest one came on the eve of a high-level summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday.
“I’m back in my homeland. Honestly, I never thought this would happen,” Mykyta Kaliberda, 29, a marine who was exchanged, told AFP.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media that among the exchanged prisoners were “both military personnel and civilians”, some of whom had been “held by the Russians since 2014, 2016, and 2017”.
He said “defenders of Mariupol” were also part of the swap, referring to a Ukrainian port city that fell to Russian forces in 2022 following a nearly three-month siege.
“My eldest son was in captivity for three years, four months, and two days. Thank God, we awaited him,” said Tetiana Turkoman, a mother of a soldier who fought in Mariupol, adding that she had a “feeling” her son will be released and decided to come.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve been to the exchanges, hoping that my husband will be there. Artur! Artur Ivanik! My God!” said Anastasia, calling out her husband Artur, who was due to come home Thursday.
READ ALSO: Trump Vows Not To Be Intimidated Ahead Of Putin Summit
The Russian defence ministry said on Telegram that the United Arab Emirates had mediated the exchange and that the released Russian personnel were receiving “psychological and medical assistance”.
Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul between May and July.
In their latest round of talks last month, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners of war each.
A Russian negotiator said that Moscow had also offered to hand Kyiv the bodies of 3,000 killed soldiers.
AFP
