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The first exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) in 2024 took place on January 3. The Russian military reported that 248 Russian servicemen returned to Russia. The Ukrainian side reported that 230 Ukrainian servicemen were released.
The exchange reportedly took place on the border of the Belgorod region. This was made possible through the mediation of the United Arab Emirates.
The Russian Ministry of Defense, all released Russian servicemen were provided with the necessary medical and psychological assistance. Military personnel is transported by military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces for treatment and rehabilitation in medical institutions of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
In his turn, Ukrainian President Zelensky confirmed the prisoner exchange, saying that more than 200 servicemen of various institutions returned to the Ukrainian side, including prisoners from Azovstal and Mariupol. They include servicemen of the Armed Forces, National Guard, Navy, border guards. Ukrainian Ombudsman claimed that 230 people returned to the Ukrainian side.
According to the Russian military, the negotiation process was not easy. This is the first prisoner exchange in six months. The last exchange was officially reported on June 11, 2023.
Some Ukrainian and Russian officials claimed that 75 Russian servicemen were released from Ukrainian captivity beyond the exchange. According to the reports, 8 months ago 75 Russian soldiers should be exchanged to five Azov militants; but Kiev did not fulfill the obligations, as a result the exchange process was thwarted. It is not clear if they were included in 248 servicemen declared by the Russian Defense Ministry or not. The experts suppose that the numbers for the last exchange were agreed by the warring sides not to humiliate the Kiev regime and Zelensky.
the uk is the mastermind of the belgorod massacre, now it’s time to bring them to justice, a small warning tsunami would be a good payback
yes, i agree. call poseidon
uk’s the biggest state sponsor of terrorism on the planet.
us and israël are worse.
it’s not called the anglozionazi empire of s#it for nothing
no..precision cigar deliveries to the snaggle toothed filth at the top of the s#it pile called pirate rock. the time for ambiguity is long gone by. whack and stack!
i am prisoner in lgbt trailer park—free use of my azz
i guessing that most ukrainian prisoners would rather stay with russian forces until the kiev junta folds like a wet cardboard box. the junta will only turn these prisoners back into soldiers. i’m kinda guessing that the russian side has also told these people what will happen if they are caught again.
typo in headline. retired printer, just trying to help.
no more prisoner swaps!!!! what are you doing russia????? if you want to free your prisoners then drive on kiev and destroy the nazi leadership and free your prisoners by extreme force aimed at kiev, kharkov, odessa. no more being lenient and patient. =z=
russia is trying to maintain the moral high ground, extreme force towards kiev would result in thousands of civilian deaths. israel has no issue with such tactics because they consider palestinians to be animals, but i think the russians have enough respect for ukrainian lives that they will try to avoid excess civilian casualties.
the brave russian soldiers returning home to their families and a hero’s welcome…the poor rump ukrainian meat puppets will be immediately chucked back into the meat machine and the next time ground down into worm food. how anyone would chose to go back to the natostan sewer called rump ukraine, the burning dumpster fire, is beyond me. ah well life don’t give a rat’s a$$ who lives it or indeed chucks it away…especially for the global khazar viper$.