World

Ukraine secures return of 49 people in POW exchange with Russia

2024.09.13 08:41

(Reuters) – Ukraine has secured the release of 49 people from Russian captivity in the latest exchange of prisoners with Moscow, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday.

The latest swap since Russia’s invasion in 2022 was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said.

“Another return of our people – something we always wait for and work tirelessly to achieve… We must bring home every single one of our people, both military and civilian,” Zelenskiy said on X, announcing the 56th such swap with Russia.

Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on the Telegram messaging app the Ukrainians released included seven civilians as well as personnel from the armed forces, national guard, police and the border guard service.

Ukraine did not say how many Russians had been released. Moscow is yet to comment on the swap.

Video footage released by Ukraine from an undisclosed location showed service personnel being greeted with flowers, hugs and leaflets saying: “Thank you for enduring it all”. One released prisoner held the leaflet to his heart and wept.

Kyiv and Moscow have frequently exchanged prisoners since Russia’s full-scale invasion, and Friday swap was the second since Ukraine began a cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in early August.

Ukraine said its troops had captured at least 600 Russian soldiers during the incursion, and that this would help it secure the return of captured Ukrainians.

© Reuters. Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) are seen after a swap, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an unknown location in Ukraine, in this handout picture released on September 13, 2024. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Via Telegram/Handout via REUTERS  THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Yermak said that some of Ukrainians released had taken part in the defence of Mariupol and the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port city, which had been under siege in fierce fighting and is now occupied by Russian troops.

Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Ukraine had now secured the return of 3,569 people from Russian captivity since the start of the invasion.



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 98,534.40 0.36%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,435.44 2.85%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.15%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 259.10 1.45%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 660.51 2.75%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.49 4.56%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.445961 5.08%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.06%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 1.09 0.26%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,435.23 2.87%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.215618 4.31%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.606477 39.16%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 42.64 1.98%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.40 15.72%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000027 0.33%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 4,065.38 2.84%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 98,017.26 0.80%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 9.32 32.43%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.94 7.94%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 521.85 4.01%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.53 1.05%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,434.32 2.86%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000021 4.08%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.67 1.72%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.40 4.65%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 102.61 1.83%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 13.23 5.70%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.92 7.80%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,620.12 2.97%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.156907 3.60%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.88 7.66%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.201123 5.89%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.07%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.591547 13.51%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 30.17 3.23%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.98 5.11%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 535.05 3.11%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.155954 0.63%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.47 12.95%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.10%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000049 2.57%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 9.30 19.96%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.88325 9.34%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.044433 14.15%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.80 0.47%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.90 20.33%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.14%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 3.36 6.16%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.73 4.08%
celestia
Celestia (TIA) $ 7.47 26.66%