Moscow announces exchange of 206 prisoners with kyiv

So far, Ukrainian authorities have not officially confirmed that a new exchange has taken place. However, Russia announced on Saturday, September 14, the release of 206 prisoners from both sides, “at the end of the negotiation process” between Moscow and kyiv. According to the Russian Defense Ministry“103 Russian servicemen taken prisoner in the Kursk region were returned from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime. In return, 103 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian armed forces were handed over.” And this is particularly thanks to “mediation efforts” from the United Arab Emirates. “All Russian soldiers [échangés] are currently in Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance”the ministry added.

After the Ukrainian surprise offensive launched on August 6 in the Russian border region of Kursk, kyiv announced that it had taken hundreds of Russian soldiers prisoner. According to Russian media, these prisoners are mostly conscripts and border guards. Russian conscripts do not fight in Ukraine, but perform their one-year compulsory military service on national territory and generally have no real military experience.

On August 24, Russia and Ukraine announced that they had carried out, also with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates, an exchange of 230 prisoners, including Russian soldiers already taken prisoner in the Kursk region. Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds of prisoners since the start of the Russian offensive in February 2022.