The exchanges are a part of agreements reached by the warring sides throughout talks in Istanbul earlier this month.
Ukraine and Russia have swapped prisoners of struggle (POWs), the warring sides stated, after Moscow additionally handed over the our bodies of 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv.
“We proceed to take our folks out of Russian captivity. That is the fourth trade in per week,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media on Saturday.
The Russian Ministry of Defence posted on Telegram that one other group of Russian servicemen was returned “from the territory managed by the Kyiv regime” in accordance with the agreements reached by the 2 sides in Istanbul earlier this month.
Pictures printed by Zelenskyy on Telegram confirmed males of assorted ages, principally with shaved heads, sporting camouflage and draped in Ukrainian flags.
Some have been injured, others disembarked from buses and hugged these welcoming them, or have been seen calling somebody by cellphone, generally masking their faces or smiling.
Moscow’s Defence Ministry launched its personal video displaying males in uniforms holding Russian flags, clapping and chanting “Russia, Russia”, “Glory to Russia” and “Hooray”, some elevating their fists within the air.
The Russian troopers are in Belarus, the place they’re receiving medical therapy earlier than being transferred again to Russia, the Defence Ministry stated. The ministry didn’t say what number of POWs have been concerned within the newest swap.
Nonetheless, Russian state media reported, citing sources, that Moscow had not acquired any of its struggle lifeless again from Kyiv, echoing a press release Russia made on Friday when it stated it had returned the our bodies of 1,200 slain Ukrainian troopers and acquired none of its personal.
Ukraine earlier on Saturday confirmed it had acquired the our bodies of its troopers killed in motion.
The most recent POW trade between Russia and Ukraine got here after Moscow alleged that Kyiv had indefinitely postponed the swap of wounded and significantly ailing POWs and people beneath the age of 25, in addition to the return of the our bodies of 1000’s of troopers on either side.
The swap got here as Russia intensified its offensive alongside the entrance line, particularly within the northeastern Sumy area, the place it seeks to determine a “buffer zone”. Zelenskyy claimed Russia’s advance on Sumy was stopped, including that Kyiv’s forces have managed to retake one village.
In the meantime, the 2 sides aren’t any nearer to any momentary ceasefire settlement as a concrete step in the direction of ending the struggle regardless of some preliminary momentum from america President Donald Trump who now seems to be shedding persistence in his marketing campaign for a truce, even suggesting the 2 be left to battle longer, like “children in a park“, earlier than they’re pulled aside.
