More than 8,000 Ukrainians, including more than 1,600 civilians, are still detained by Russia, according to kyiv.
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“Ours are at home”, wrote President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia and Ukraine announced that they had carried out an exchange of around 200 prisoners of war from each side on Wednesday January 31.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that “195 Russian soldiers” had been exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers. The Ukrainian president, for his part, welcomed the return of “207” of his fellow citizens who were detained by the Russians, promising on to bring home all the prisoners, “combatants or civilians”.
This is the 50th exchange of this type, said Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Loubinets. According to him, a total of 3,035 Ukrainians have already been able to return home, while more than 8,000 Ukrainians, including more than 1,600 civilians, remain detained by Russia.
Russian plane crash
This exchange comes a week after the crash of a Russian military plane in murky circumstances. According to Moscow, the machine was shot down by kyiv and was carrying 74 people, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were going to be exchanged.
Ukraine for its part neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, but expressed doubts about the presence of its soldiers on board. The country, however, confirmed that an exchange of prisoners was planned on the day of the crash, and ultimately did not take place.
