Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war on Wednesday, just a week after Moscow said Kyiv had shot down a plane carrying dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers.
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, claiming it was one of the biggest swaps so far.
Russia’s defence ministry said close to 200 of its soldiers were freed.
“On January 31, as a result of the negotiation process, 195 Russian servicemen who were in mortal danger in captivity were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In return, exactly 195 prisoners from the armed forces of Ukraine were handed over,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
It was cited by the RIA state news agency as saying the United Arab Emirates played a role in brokering the deal.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its soldiers would be flown to Moscow to receive medical and psychological treatment.
Uncertainty remains over the circumstances of last week’s crash, in which a Russian Il-76 military cargo plane was downed in a field near its western border with Ukraine.
Russia accuses Ukraine of killing 65 of its own POWs by shooting down plane
Russia accuses Ukraine of killing 65 of its own POWs by shooting down plane
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a US Patriot missile was used to shoot down the transport plane.
“The plane was shot down, it has already been established for certain, by an American Patriot system,” Putin said in a televised appearance.
The plane was shot down on January 24 and Russian authorities said 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board.
Kyiv has not outright denied Moscow’s version of events, but questioned whether captured Ukrainian soldiers were actually on board, and called for Moscow to publish photos of their bodies or provide other evidence to back up its claims.
The incident had thrown doubt on the future of prisoner exchanges between the two sides.
Ukraine said Wednesday’s exchange was the 50th swap between the two sides since Russia invaded in February 2022.
The two countries have carried out periodic prisoner swaps via intermediaries since the war began nearly two years ago, despite the absence of any peace talks between them since the early months of the conflict.
The latest and biggest exchange was on January 3, when they traded a total of 478 captives following mediation by the United Arab Emirates.