Russia and Ukraine completed the final stage of a two-day prison exchange on Friday, with the Defense Ministry in Moscow saying the initiative was made possible with the mediation of the U.S. and UAE.
The two countries released 300 POWs each after having both swapped 200 captive soldiers on Thursday. It marks the second exchange to have taken place this year amid ongoing peace negotiations brokered by the Trump administration.
Russia’s chief negotiator in those talks, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, said Thursday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to release 500 prisoners of war each this week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the exchange would take place over the course of two days.
“Every time our people return home, it proves that Ukraine is working to return each and every one,” Zelensky said Thursday, adding, “We do not forget anyone.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its servicemen released on Thursday and Friday would undergo medical and mental health examinations in Belarus before returning to Russia for long-term treatment and rehabilitation.
Russia and Ukraine last exchanged prisoners of war on Feb. 5 following peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi earlier that month.
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