Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and national guards — as well as two civilians — had been released. He thanked the UAE for its assistance in negotiating the swap.
The Russian Defense Ministry noted that 150 Russian soldiers were released from captivity as part of the exchange in which each side released 150 people.
The reason for the discrepancy in the figures was not immediately clear.
“We are working to free everyone from Russian captivity,” President Zelensky said in a statement. We don’t forget anyone.”
He posted photos of Ukrainian soldiers sitting on a bus, some holding the country’s blue and yellow flags.
Mr. Zelensky said that among those freed from Russian captivity were defenders of Snake Island off the Black Sea port of Odessa, which was seized by Russia in the first days of its invasion, as well as the troops who defended the city of Mariupol, which was captured by Moscow’s forces early in the war after a nearly three-month siege.
“The return of our people from Russian captivity is always very good news for all of us,” said the Ukrainian president. And today is one of those days: our team managed to bring 189 Ukrainians home.”
In Moscow, the Defense Ministry said the Russian servicemen were first taken to the territory of Russia’s neighbor and ally Belarus, where they received “psychological and medical assistance” before returning to Russia .
Russia and Ukraine have carried out dozens of such prisoner swaps during the nearly three-year war.
The prisoner swap comes as President Joe Biden announced Monday that the United States would send nearly $2.5 billion more in weapons to Ukraine, with his administration working quickly to spend all the money it is prepared to help Kyiv fight Russia before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
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