Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022.
Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday that 230 of its prisoners were released while Russia said 248 of its soldiers were returned after mediation by the United Arab Emirates.
While the two sides have gone through several exchanges during the war, swap deals stalled in the latter half of last year. The latest exchange was the first in almost 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 uniformed men celebrating.
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.
Kyiv said this was the largest documented swap of troops so far.
Some of the Ukrainians had been held since 2022. Among them were some who fought in milestone battles for Ukraine’s Snake Island and port city of Mariupol.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said 248 of its soldiers had been returned after “complex” negotiations by the UAE. Russian officials offered no other details of the exchange.
