Russia, Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners

A total 207 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians were swapped for the same number of Russian captives

KYIV (AFP) — Russia and Ukraine traded hundreds of prisoners of war on Wednesday, just a week after Moscow said Kyiv had shot down a plane carrying captured Ukrainian soldiers to an exchange.

Russia’s defense ministry said 195 of its soldiers were freed, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 207 people — both soldiers and civilians — had returned to Ukraine.

“Our people are back. 207 of them. We return them home no matter what,” Zelensky said in a social media post.

In his daily evening address, Zelensky added that a total of over 3,000 Ukrainian POWs have now returned home.

“They have different ranks and experience. All are equally important for Ukraine,” Zelensky stressed.

The exchange was brokered by the United Arab Emirates — which has played a role in several previous swaps — Moscow said.

Ukraine said the youngest soldier returning home was 20, while the oldest was 61.

The freed Ukrainians include those who fought in Mariupol and on Snake Island — a scrubby rock in the Black Sea that secured worldwide fame when the Ukrainians stationed there issued an expletive-laden radio message to Russian attackers.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, both sides reported ongoing fights along the sprawling frontline.

“The enemy has not stopped trying to surround Avdiivka,” Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s army, said in an interview with state TV.

Russian forces have been trying to capture the strategic eastern town — which Ukrainians see as a symbol of resistance — for months.

Putin appeared to confirm Russia was moving in, claiming Moscow’s troops had captured 19 houses on the town’s outskirts.

Its forces fired a barrage of drones and missiles across Ukraine overnight in another round of aerial bombardment.