Ukraine and Russia exchanged this Friday 75 prisoners of war each, in the first exchange of that type in the last three months, authorities reported. A few hours earlier, and in the same place, both sides also handed each other the bodies of their fallen soldiers.
Ukrainian prisoners of war, among whom were four civilians, They were returned in several buses that They arrived in the Sumy region, in the north of the country. When they got out of the units, they shouted with joy and called their families to tell them that they were home. Some knelt and kissed the ground, while others wrapped themselves in yellow and blue flags and hugged each other, bursting into tears. Many of them looked malnourished and poorly dressed.
The exchange of a total of 150 prisoners of war was the fourth carried out this year, and the 52nd since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. United Arab Emirates authorities said they helped negotiate the latest exchange.
Both sides have blamed each other for what they say is a slowdown in trade.
In the past, Ukraine has urged Russia to exchange “all for all” and every week marches are held in that country to demand the release of prisoners of war. Vitalii Matviienko, a Ukrainian official at the headquarters coordinating the exchanges, said “Ukraine is always prepared.”
Tatyana Moskalkova, a Russian human rights defender, said earlier this week that kyiv was making “new artificial demands,” without providing further explanation.
Among those who returned to Ukraine on Friday is Roman Onyschuk, an IT worker who joined the Ukrainian forces as a volunteer at the start of the Russian invasion. He was captured in March 2022 in the Kharkiv region.
“I just want to hear my wife’s voice and my son’s voice. I missed all three of his birthdays,” she said. In the more than 800 days spent in captivity, He never contacted his family, and he doesn’t know which city they are in now, he said. “It’s a little overwhelming,” Onyschuk added.
With prisoner swaps, including Friday’s, Ukraine has recovered a total of 3,210 Ukrainian military personnel and civilians since the outbreak of war, according to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
(AP)
