For the first time since August, Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war. The exchange was announced by the Russian Ministry of Defense and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
According to the Ministry of Defense, 248 Russian servicemen were returned from captivity. Representatives of the United Arab Emirates acted as a mediator in the negotiations between the countries.
Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubinets writes that Ukraine has returned 230 citizens. According to him, this is already the 49th prisoner exchange — among those released are those who defended Azovstal and Zmeiny Island at the beginning of the war.
In the first year of the full-scale invasion, prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine took place regularly, however, from the second half of 2023 they stopped. As Politico noted, the last major exchange took place in August.
In mid-December, Vladimir Zelensky said that the prisoner exchange was “complicated” due to “reasons on the part of the Russian Federation.” A few weeks earlier, Ukraine's president told The Associated Press that small exchanges often take place on the battlefield.