Moscow, May 15, (dpa/GNA) – Russia and Ukraine have each exchanged 205 prisoners of war, according to matching statements from both sides.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the platform X, that this was the first step in a larger exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side. “We will continue to fight for every single person who remains in captivity,” he wrote.
The Russian soldiers returning home have arrived in Belarus, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said. It thanked the United Arab Emirates for mediating the operation.
The exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war each was part of an agreement on a three-day ceasefire from May 9-11, mediated by US President Donald Trump. The ceasefire was mainly aimed at ensuring that a Russian World War II remembrance ceremony on May 9 wasn’t attacked.
The warring sides have exchanged thousands of prisoners during more than four years of conflict. Most recently these exchanges have taken place at the border between Ukraine and Belarus.
Because transporting the soldiers to and from the site is difficult, larger exchanges in the past have also been split into several stages.
GNA