Ukraine, Russia swap POWs in first deal in months

Russia and Ukraine said Wednesday (Jan 3) that they had swapped hundreds of captive soldiers, their first publicly announced a prisoner of war exchange in almost five months.

The two sides have carried out dozens of exchanges throughout Moscow's 22-month-long invasion, but the process stalled in the latter half of last year.

In almost simultaneous statements, the Russian defence ministry and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced they had received over 200 soldiers each.

"More than 200 of our soldiers and civilians have been returned from Russian captivity," Zelenskyy said on Telegram, posting a video of uniformed men celebrating.

DEAL CAME AFTER NEGOTIATIONS

Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said 230 Ukrainian soldiers had been released in total, marking what he said was the 49th exchange between the two sides.

Moscow's defence ministry said 248 of its soldiers had been returned in a deal that came about after "complex" negotiations mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

Neither side discloses how many prisoners are in their custody.

Among the Ukrainian soldiers released were 66 from the city of Mariupol, which fell to Russian forces in May 2022, an official who took part in the negotiations told AFP.

Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers who fought in Mariupol have been tried by Russia for war crimes, in court proceedings denounced by Ukraine and rights groups as illegal.

GOOD NEWS FOR LOVED ONES

“It's been a very long time since there have been prisoner swaps. So the fact that this is happening is of course, good news. It's good news for families on both sides,” said Dr Jade McGlynn, a researcher at King’s College London's War Studies department.

“And in particular, there were a number of soldiers released to their families who were officially missing in action, and so many of those Ukrainian families presumed they were dead.”

Dr McGlynn said the war between Russia and Ukraine is unfortunately going to be a long one, adding that “it's very difficult to say how this was going to end”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has “made it quite clear that there are five areas of Ukraine that belong to Russia, and that there really can't be any talks or any negotiations unless Ukraine recognises that”, she told CNA938 on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Russia is trying to weaken Ukraine's defence industry, knowing that “it's unable to replenish (supplies), at least for the time being”, said Dr McGlynn.

“Looking forward, there are many supply issues when it comes to that and Europe promised a million ammunition shells, and it managed to provide in the region of 200,000 to 300,000,” she added.

“Ukrainians are very good at innovation, but they really need support to scale up, more support in terms of the training provided to the soldiers.”