Russia and Ukraine exchanged 300 captives in a UAE-mediated swap confirmed by the UAE government on Monday.
The UAE mediation resulted in the release of 150 Russian captives and 150 Ukrainian captives, state news agency Wam reported. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its appreciation to both countries for their co-operation and responsiveness to the UAE’s mediation endeavours. The ministry added that the successful new mediation effort, the 10th since the beginning of 2024, took the total number of released captives to 2,484.
Russia's Defence Ministry said that each side had agreed to swap 150 prisoners of war. The Russian military personnel are currently in Belarus, the statement added. On X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that captured Ukrainians were being returned from Russia to Ukraine ahead of the new year.
He said some of those being freed had been captured on the front lines at Azovstal, Mariupol, Chernobyl and Zmiinyi Island.
"We continue working to free every single person from Russian captivity. This is our goal, and we will not forget anyone", he added. "I thank the team that is doing everything to bring our people home. I also thank all our partners, including the UAE, who are helping us with this."
The POW exchange is the latest since the start of Russia’s nearly three-year-old invasion. In October, the two countries returned 95 soldiers each under an agreement mediated by the UAE. That swap included soldiers who had served in the siege of Mariupol in the early months of the war, Mr Zelenskyy said at the time.
Ukraine hasn’t released the exact numbers of its citizens being held by Russia. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that 6,465 Ukrainian soldiers were held by Russia and 1,348 Russian soldiers by Ukraine. The claims couldn’t be independently verified.
Ukraine said in November that more than 3,700 Ukrainian prisoners have been returned in exchanges since the start of the war.
