Ukraine and Russia on Thursday said they swapped 100 prisoners of war each, the latest exchange between the warring sides since Moscow accused Kyiv of downing a plane carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers.
Moscow and Kyiv have both vowed to keep exchanging prisoners as Russia’s war against Ukraine drags quickly approaches its second anniversary.
“Another 100 Ukrainians are at home in Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.
“All of them are ours, all of them are back on their native land,” he added.
Zelensky posted photographs of men wrapped in Ukrainian flags.
Zelensky said most of the men had defended the port city of Mariupol, which Russia captured after a brutal seige in early 2022.
“We are working on each and every one of them and will not stop until we bring them back!” Zelensky said.
The swap, announced earlier by Russia, comes after Zelensky sacked his top general Valery Zaluzhny, replacing him with Oleksandr Syrsky.
“On February 8, as a result of negotiations, 100 Russian servicemen who were in mortal danger in captivity were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
It said its men would be brought to Moscow for rehabilitation.
