Russia, Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners in 'biggest' release of war

KYIV: In the largest prisoner exchange since Russia's invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, hundreds of prisoners of war were exchanged between Kyiv and Moscow on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera.

Representatives of Ukraine announced the release of 230 captives, while representatives of Russia claimed that 248 servicemen had been brought back on Wednesday, following mediation by the United Arab Emirates.

Although there have been multiple exchanges between the two parties during the conflict, swap negotiations came to a standstill in the second half of 2018.

This most recent exchange took place after nearly five months.

"More than 200 of our soldiers and civilians have been returned from Russian captivity," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in a post on the Telegram messaging app that included a video of the men in uniform celebrating, reported Al Jazeera.

Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said 230 Ukrainian prisoners, including six civilians, had been released, marking what he said was the 49th exchange between the two sides, Al Jazeera.

According to Kyiv, this is the biggest troop shift ever recorded.

Since 2022, a few Ukrainians have been detained. Some of them participated in historic fights for Snake Island and Mariupol, the port city of Ukraine.

Following "complex" discussions by the UAE, 248 Russian soldiers have been returned, according to the Ministry of Defence in Russia. No other information on the exchange was provided by Russian officials, according to Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, Russia reported on Wednesday that it had intercepted 12 missiles aimed at one of its southernmost districts that border Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported.

Following repeated missile and drone attacks by Ukraine, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia's Belgorod area, stated that the situation "continues to remain tense."