According to the Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Loubinets, 230 Ukrainian soldiers are affected by this 49th exchange between kyiv and Moscow.
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Russia and Ukraine announced on Wednesday January 3 that they had each released more than 230 prisoners of war during the largest exchange operation of this type in nearly two years of conflict and in the midst of an escalation of bombings. This is the first exchange of prisoners of war since the summer, the Ukrainian authorities having accused Moscow of blocking negotiations on this subject.
“Following a complex negotiation process, 248 Russian soldiers were repatriated from territory controlled by the kyiv regime”rejoiced the Russian Ministry of Defense in a press release on Telegram. “More than 200 of our soldiers and civilians have returned from Russian captivity”for his part underlined the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Since 2022, 2,828 Ukrainians were exchanged
According to Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Loubinets, 230 Ukrainian soldiers were exchanged during this 49th exchange between kyiv and Moscow since the start of the Russian assault in February 2022. It is “the most important in terms of number of defenders [ukrainiens] repatriated”, said the Ukrainian coordination center responsible for prisoners of war.
Among them are 66 defenders of the Azovstal factory, who faced the siege of the city of Mariupol by the Russian army in 2022, according to a Ukrainian official who took part in the negotiations. In total, since February 24, 2022, “2,828 defenders [ukrainiens] returned home”said Dmytro Loubinets on Wednesday.
