Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of prisoners of war happymamay

Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it sold 150 Ukrainian soldiers detained for a similar number of Russian forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 189 Ukrainians had returned to their homeland.

He added that among those released were “defenders of Azovstal and Mariupol”, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and Snake Island.

The BBC was present during the reunion of released Ukrainians with their loved ones at a site in northern Ukraine.

Before their arrival, Alina was waiting for her husband Oleksandr – who had been captured during the defense of the southeastern city of Mariupol in 2022 – with tears streaming down her face.

“I have so many emotions, it’s been so hard. I just want to see him,” she said.

Freed prisoner Anatoly, who was arrested in the southeastern city of Mariupol in 2022, told the BBC he was “overwhelmed with emotion.”

“Thank God that this day has come. We have returned home. Now we will support Ukraine with everything we have,” he said.

Another released prisoner, Igor, told the BBC: “I am very happy to return to my country, to my land. I have no words to say how I feel now.”

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the newly released Russian soldiers are in Belarus and receiving medical assistance and the opportunity to contact their families.

In a video clip published by Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova, soldiers were seen gathered in front of the trainers wearing military and winter clothing.

“Very soon our men will hug their families and friends and celebrate the New Year on their native soil,” she said in an accompanying message.

This was the 59th prisoner exchange since the start of the overall invasion and one of the largest prisoner exchanges to date.

On the Ukrainian side, those released included soldiers, border guards, members of the National Guard, and navy soldiers. Many of them remained in captivity for more than two and a half years, and Ukrainian officials said some of them returned with serious illnesses and injuries.

For some families, the painful uncertainty is over. But thousands more Ukrainians remain detained in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine.

Officials in Kiev told the BBC that negotiations on a prisoner exchange had become more difficult in recent months – since Russian forces began making significant advances on the battlefield.

Ukraine does not publish the numbers of prisoners of war held by Russia, but the total is believed to be more than 8,000.

Denis Prokopenko, commander of the Ukrainian 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade who defended the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol before it was taken over by Russian forces, said on Tuesday. X 11 of the brigade’s men were returned in the exchange process.

Prokopenko was released in a prisoner exchange in 2022.

Two civilians captured in Mariupol were also among those released, Zelensky said.

Zelensky said: “We are working to free everyone from Russian captivity. This is our goal. We do not forget anyone.” He posted pictures showing some of the exchanged men sitting on a bus and raising yellow and blue Ukrainian flags.

In May 2022, Russia declared victory after a months-long battle to seize the region Mariupol, a coastal city in southeastern UkraineWith the surrender of the last fighters defending the Azovstal Steel Plant.

Russian forces seized Chernobyl in the country’s northwest at the start of their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but later returned control of the plant to its employees.

The Snake Island in the Black Sea was also captured in 2022 Ukrainian soldiers were captured, but were later exchanged for Russian prisoners.