At least 400 Russian and Ukrainian conflict prisoners have been exchanged on Wednesday, every week after the previous mentioned Kyiv downed an plane carrying captured troopers.
The crash of a Russian army cargo aircraft close to the border with Ukraine – which Russia mentioned killed 65 Ukrainian POWs – had thrown doubt on future prisoner swaps between the 2 sides.
But in a sequence of coordinated bulletins Wednesday, either side hailed the newest settlement to free greater than 400 individuals captured through the course of the two-year conflict.
Russia’s protection ministry mentioned 195 of its troopers have been freed, whereas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned 207 individuals – each troopers and civilians – had returned to Ukraine.
“Our people are back. 207 of them. We return them home no matter what,” Zelensky mentioned in a social media submit.
Russia’s protection ministry mentioned, “195 Russian servicemen… were returned home.”
The alternate was brokered by the United Arab Emirates – which has performed a job in a number of earlier swaps – Moscow mentioned.
Ukraine mentioned the youngest soldier returning house was 20, whereas the oldest was 61.
The freed Ukrainians embody those that fought in Mariupol and on Snake Island — a scrubby rock within the Black Sea that secured worldwide fame when the Ukrainians stationed there issued an expletive-laden radio message to Russian attackers.
fiftieth swap
The announcement of the swap – in a flurry of statements and pictures launched concurrently by Moscow and Kyiv – contrasted sharply with the rhetoric surrounding final week’s crash.
Zelensky has accused Moscow of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners” whereas Moscow says Ukraine dedicated a “terrorist act.”
Uncertainty stays after the Russian aircraft crashed in a fireball within the western Belgorod area on Jan. 24.
Moscow says it was ferrying 65 Ukrainian POWs on the best way to a scheduled alternate.
President Vladimir Putin mentioned it was “obvious” Ukraine shot it down and claimed Kyiv knew dozens of its troopers may have been on board.
On Wednesday, he mentioned a US Patriot system was used to down the aircraft.
“This has already been established by forensics,” Putin mentioned in a televised look.
Ukraine has not outright denied Moscow’s model of occasions, however questioned whether or not captured Ukrainian troopers have been truly on board and mentioned Moscow by no means informed it prematurely that POWs can be flown close to the border.
Officials in Kyiv have referred to as for Moscow to publish pictures of the lifeless POWs’ our bodies or present different proof to again up its claims.
Wednesday’s alternate – which occurred precisely every week after the aircraft was shot down – was the fiftieth swap between the 2 sides since Russia invaded in February 2022, Kyiv mentioned.
Ukraine mentioned greater than 3,000 POWs have now been returned. An identical variety of Russians have additionally been freed, with most exchanges primarily based on a one-for-one format.
Thousands who’ve been captured or surrendered all through the close to two-year conflict are thought to nonetheless be in captivity.
On the battlefield, either side reported ongoing fights for territory throughout the sprawling frontline.
Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military, mentioned Ukraine’s forces have been “firmly on the defensive” within the jap Donetsk area.
“The enemy does not stop trying to surround Avdiivka,” he mentioned in an interview with state TV.
Russian forces have been making an attempt to seize the strategic city — which Ukrainians see as a logo of resistance — for months.
Ukraine additionally mentioned Russia fired drones and missiles in a single day within the newest aerial bombardment.
On the diplomatic entrance, Kyiv is hoping for a breakthrough this week over unlocking 50 billion euros ($54.2 billion) of support from the EU.
EU leaders will meet on Thursday to debate future help for Kyiv, hoping to succeed in a last settlement over a large four-year monetary support package deal that was blocked by Hungary final yr.
Source: www.dailysabah.com