Russia and Ukraine exchanged a total of 230 prisoners of war, including Russian conscripts captured during the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk border region, AFP reported, referring to messages from both sides, BTA reported.
„At the end of the negotiation process, 115 Russian servicemen captured in the Kursk region were returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In return, 115 prisoners of war from the Ukrainian armed forces were handed over”, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced.
The freed Russian servicemen are currently on the territory of Belarus, a close ally of Moscow, the ministry added. “Today another 115 of our defenders returned home. These are servicemen from the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy and the National Border Guard Service, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed.
Like many similar events so far, this exchange took place with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates, which hailed the fact that it is a “reliable mediator supporting diplomacy to resolve the crisis between the two countries”.
In its statement, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs promised to “continue to make all efforts and initiatives aimed at finding a peaceful solution”, believing that “de-escalation” is “the only way to resolve the conflict”.
The surprise Ukrainian offensive that began on August 6 in Russia's border region of Kursk surprised Moscow, and Kiev boasted that with the capture of “hundreds“ Russian soldiers. According to Russian media, the captives are mostly conscripts and border guards. Russian conscripts do not fight in Ukraine, but complete their mandatory one-year military service on the territory of Russia and usually have no real military experience, noted AFP.
Russian prisoners of war captured in Kursk region, whom an AFP team met this week under the supervision of Ukrainian officers, said they hoped to be exchanged soon. Since the start of the conflict in 2022, Russia and Ukraine have carried out numerous exchanges of captured soldiers, but this is the first since Ukraine invaded Russian territory.