Ukraine and Russia exchanged captured soldiers Thursday in the latest prisoner swap since meeting for direct peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month.
“Today, warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service are returning home,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media, sharing images of smiling soldiers wrapped in Ukrainian flags.
Most of the released Ukrainians had been held for more than three years, many of them captured during the brutal siege of Mariupol in 2022, Ukraine’s POW coordination headquarters said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its troops were transferred to Belarus, where they were receiving psychological and medical care.
“Another group of Russian servicemen has been returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime,” the ministry said, sharing a video of uniformed men draped in Russian flags chanting “Russia!”
Neither side disclosed the number of troops released.
At their last direct talks on June 2, Ukraine and Russia pledged to exchange at least 1,000 prisoners each, though no follow-up negotiations have been announced.
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