Largest prisoner exchange of the Ukraine-Russia war takes place: UAE acts as mediator
Ukraine and Russia have announced that they have carried out the largest prisoner exchange since the beginning of the war.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared photos of some of the released soldiers on his X account on Wednesday evening, writing, "230 of our people. Today, 213 soldiers and sergeants, 11 officers, and 6 civilians have returned home."
Zelenskyy noted that some of the released soldiers had fought at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
In the siege of Azovstal, one of the most memorable events of the war that began on February 24, 2022, Ukrainian soldiers had managed to defend the facility for 3 months.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also stated in a statement on Wednesday evening that 248 Russian prisoners of war had returned from Ukraine through the "humanitarian mediation" of the United Arab Emirates.
Abu Dhabi, which has friendly relations with Moscow, played a similar role in a prisoner swap last year.
Russia and Ukraine last conducted a prisoner exchange in August.
It is believed that Russia holds around 4,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war, but since neither side shares this data, the exact numbers are unknown.