Russia and Ukraine carried out a major prisoner exchange on Sunday, each side releasing 146 detainees in a deal mediated by the United Arab Emirates, officials in Moscow and Kyiv confirmed.
According to Russia’s defence ministry, all released Russians were taken to neighbouring Belarus, where they are receiving psychological and medical support. The ministry added that Ukraine also returned to Moscow eight Russian civilians from the Kursk region, an area that saw a major Ukrainian incursion last year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the swap on Telegram, sharing images of smiling returnees. He said many had been in captivity since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, and noted that among them was a journalist captured a month into the war. Expressing gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for its role in facilitating the exchange, Zelenskyy stressed that such operations remain ongoing.
“The exchanges are continuing. Perhaps that is possible because of our soldiers, who are increasing the exchange fund for Ukraine,” he wrote, hinting at Kyiv’s capture of Russian servicemen.
The Ukrainian military later confirmed that 146 prisoners from each side had been swapped.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Medinsky, a senior Russian negotiator in earlier peace talks, criticised what he described as Kyiv’s delay in releasing civilians from the Kursk region. Writing on Telegram, he said more than 20 residents were still awaiting return. “Three months have passed and residents of Kursk region are not being returned, but are being exchanged in small groups for some people needed by Ukraine,” he claimed, accusing Kyiv of “painful bargaining.”
The exchange highlights both the continuing humanitarian dimension of the war and the challenges that still surround negotiations between the two warring states.
Melissa Enoch
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