Kyiv: Ukraine and Russia successfully carried out a new prisoner of war (POW) exchange on Monday, resulting in the return of over 300 former captives to their respective countries. The swap saw Kyiv bring home 189 individuals, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, while Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed the release of 150 Russian servicemen.
The Russian Ministry stated that the captives had been released in Belarus, a close ally of Russia in the ongoing war, and would soon be transferred to Russia. In Ukraine, Reuters Television footage showed emotional reunions as spouses and former soldiers, many wrapped in blue and yellow national flags, greeted each other well into the evening.
Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner swap, bringing home over 300 captives. The swap, mediated by the United Arab Emirates and others, is the 59th exchange since Feb. 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine https://t.co/RUWa68YvGr pic.twitter.com/GDhB8YTcnY
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 31, 2024
One of the most emotional moments was captured on a mobile phone as a child’s voice, filled with disbelief, asked, “Dad, is that you?” Serhii, a former captive who was captured by Russian forces at the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol during a prolonged siege in 2022, shared how much had changed since he last saw his son. “My son is 5 years old now, the last time I saw him he was 2 years old,” Serhii said. “That’s why my son probably didn’t recognize me. I used to have a beard and hair. I lost 20 kg (44 pounds).”
For some of the former POWs, adjusting to freedom posed a challenge. Roman Borshch, 29, explained, “Even now I’m holding my hands behind my back, it has become a habit of mine. Now I have to get used to being a free person again.”
Meanwhile, video footage from the Russian Defence Ministry showed smiling servicemen aboard a bus, with some calling their families. “We’ll soon be home. How are the children? How is our boy?” one man asked, while another expressed, “I am overwhelmed by emotion. I still can’t quite believe that this has happened, that I am back home, that the ministry made such efforts, that we are remembered and valued.”
Zelenskiy thanked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other partners for facilitating the swap, with the UAE confirming its role in arranging the exchange. Zelenskiy celebrated the return of 189 Ukrainians, stating on Telegram, “The return of our people from Russian captivity is always very good news for each of us. And today is one of such days: our team managed to bring 189 Ukrainians home.”
Though the reason for the disparity in numbers between the Ukrainians and Russians released remains unclear, the freed Ukrainians included civilians and military personnel who had been held in captivity, including soldiers, sergeants, officers, and two civilians captured in Mariupol.
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Denys Prokopenko, commander of the 12th Special Forces “Azov” Brigade that defended the Azovstal steel mill, confirmed that 11 of his men were among those freed. Prokopenko himself had been released in an earlier exchange.
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According to Ukraine’s prisoner swap body, this was the 59th exchange since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This latest swap brings the total number of Ukrainian detainees returned to 3,956. The group also noted that this year’s exchanges included Ukrainians who had been serving “so-called sentences” in Russian-controlled courts for various alleged offenses. The previous swap in October, also facilitated by the UAE, resulted in the return of 95 detainees from each side.
