Moscow and Kyiv say their respective troopers are returning house with out specifying variety of launched prisoners.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of battle as the 2 international locations proceed to commerce assaults, regardless of diplomatic efforts to finish the battle.
Officers in Moscow and Kyiv confirmed the swap on Thursday however didn’t disclose the variety of prisoners launched.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that the “warriors of the Armed Forces, the Nationwide Guard, and the State Border Guard Service” have been returning house.
“Most of them had been in captivity since 2022. We’re doing every part attainable to search out every individual, to confirm the data on each title,” he mentioned.
“We should carry all our folks house. I thank everybody who helps us on this effort.”
On the identical time, Russia’s Ministry of Defence mentioned on Telegram that one other group of Russian troopers had returned from Ukraine.
“At the moment, Russian servicemen are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, the place they’re receiving the required psychological and medical help,” the ministry mentioned.
The troopers will then be taken to Russia for therapy and rehabilitation, the ministry added.
Throughout their direct assembly in Turkiye on June 2, Russia and Ukraine pledged to swap at the very least 1,000 troopers in one of many few factors that either side have agreed upon and proven cooperation for the reason that battle started in 2022.
However future talks to debate a path to finish the battle have stalled because the gulf between Moscow and Kyiv has remained unchanged.
Russia has repeatedly mentioned any territory it has taken through the battle have to be retained to realize a ceasefire. Nonetheless, Kyiv has rejected giving up its land.
Amid the most recent prisoner trade, Russian air strikes on Ukraine killed at the very least one individual and wounded two others within the southern area of Kherson, in accordance with the regional mayor.
Furthermore, Russia introduced that its forces had captured two Ukrainian villages within the Donetsk area as Ukraine’s military chief, Oleksandr Syrskii, ordered defensive traces to be constructed sooner as Russian forces take extra floor in the direction of the Dnipropetrovsk area.
In the meantime, Zelenskyy signed an accord on Thursday with the Council of Europe to place prime Russian officers on trial for the invasion of Ukraine.
