Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky announced on Wednesday a new prisoner exchange with Russia in which both sides released 103 detainees. Zelensky noted that among those freed are members of the Armed Forces, the State Border Guard Service and the National Guard of Ukraine.
The liberated fighters participated in the defence of Mariupol and on the fronts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Dnipro and Sumy, according to the president. Zelensky stated that his team continues working to secure the release of other captives still in Russian hands.
The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed that 103 Russian military personnel were repatriated from territory controlled by Ukraine. The United Arab Emirates acted as a humanitarian mediator in the operation, a role it had already played in previous exchanges, Moscow reported.
The liberated Russian military personnel were transferred to Belarus to receive psychological and medical care. Prisoner exchanges represent one of the few spaces for cooperation between the two nations since the war began in February 2022.
The previous prisoner exchange, of 160 personnel on each side, took place on 26 June. On 13 August both parties carried out an exchange of detained civilians—eight Russians and seven Ukrainians—and an exchange of bodies of fallen soldiers, with the return of 261 Ukrainians and 24 Russians.
