Moscow: Russia on Friday announced that it has conducted a prisoner swap with Ukraine, returning 193 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners in exchange for the same number of Russian prisoners of war held by Kyiv.
“On April 24, 193 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In exchange, 193 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war were transferred. Currently, the Russian servicemen are in the Republic of Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance. All Russian servicemen will be transported to the Russian Federation for treatment and rehabilitation at Russian Ministry of Defence medical facilities,” Russian state-owned news agency Tass quoted from a statement released by the country’s defence ministry.
Humanitarian mediation efforts were provided by the United States and the UAE to secure the return of Russian military personnel from captivity, acknowledged the Russian Ministry of Defence.
In January, Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Tatyana Moskalkova, said that unblocking the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine remains the key task.
“I have handed over the lists of the Ukrainian servicemen who are on our territory and whom we are ready to transfer,” the ombudsman said, adding that Ukraine had previously handed over the lists, and Russia had agreed to return them. “We hope that the exchanges will be resumed,” she said.
Both countries have conducted several prisoner exchanges in the past. In February, 157 servicemen were exchanged, and the released Russian servicemen were taken for necessary psychological and medical assistance.
In February 2025, 150 prisoners of war were exchanged from each side. “The United Arab Emirates assisted in the return of the Russian servicemen from captivity through humanitarian mediation,” said the Russian Defence Ministry.
Following their direct negotiations in Istanbul on May 16, 2025, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each, making the largest prisoner swap since the start of the conflict in 2022.
Similarly, in January 2024, 195 servicemen were exchanged from each side, which was also brokered by the UAE. During this exchange in 2024, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said, “Will it stop the exchanges or not? We will not stop the exchanges. We have to bring our own guys back home.”
(IANS)
