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Russia and Ukraine have announced that they have exchanged over 200 prisoners.
This is the latest prisoner swap that the warring countries have agreed upon since the war began in February 2022. Both countries have returned hundreds of each other’s , as well as the bodies of fallen trosoldiersops since the start of the war.
According to Russia’s Minister of Defense, 106 Russian soldiers were released from Ukrainian custody, while the Chief of Staff to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, stated that Russia freed 100 Ukrainian prisoners.
Yermak announced this in a Telegram statement, according to French news agency Agence France Press.
“We are returning 100 of our people. They are military people, sailors, border guards, national guardsmen,” Yermak said.
He stated that the exchange was difficult, and included troops who held out in Mariupol — the devastated port city captured by Russia last spring — and that some were “seriously injured.”
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War alleged that almost half of the 80 men and 20 women soldiers who returned home “have serious injuries, illnesses or have been tortured”.
Meanwhile, the freed Russians were flown on military transport planes to Moscow for medical treatment and rehabilitation.
“All those that were freed will be given the necessary medical and psychological help,” the Ministry of Defense said.
The previous Russian-Ukrainian prisoner exchange was last month. Authorities announced on March 7 that 130 Ukrainians were swapped for 90 Russian servicemen.
Source: TheWhistler | Read More
