Russia and Ukraine exchange many prisoners of war despite tensions over last week’s plane crash -WIW
Russia and Ukraine exchange many prisoners of war despite tensions over last week’s plane crash
KIIV, Ukraine – Russia and Ukraine have exchanged about 200 prisoners of war each, the countries said Wednesday, despite tensions over last week’s downing of a military transport plane. . Moscow says it was holding Ukrainian prisoners of war and was fired upon by Kiev forces.
After the downing of an Il-76 in Russia’s Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border on January 24, some Russian officials publicly questioned the possibility of future prisoner of war exchanges.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the countries exchanged 195 prisoners of war each. After the statement was released, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 207 Ukrainians had been released. There was no immediate explanation for the different numbers.
“We remember every Ukrainian in captivity. Both military and civilians. We must bring them all back. We are working on it, Zelenskyy said on X, earlier on Twitter.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on social media that this is the 50th such exchange since the start of the war almost two years ago, and a total of 3,035 prisoners of war have been repatriated.
Among the freed Ukrainians were members of the Defense Forces, National Guard, Border Guard and State Police, said Chief of Staff of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak. He added that some of them were captured defending Mariupol, Azovstal and Mao Island.
The Russian military said without giving details that the Russian prisoners of war exchanged on Wednesday “faced mortal danger in captivity” and will be flown to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation.
According to Moscow, there were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on the military transport that crashed in January. 24. Ukrainian officials confirmed that the exchange was scheduled to take place that day and was cancelled, but confirmed that they had seen no evidence that any prisoners of war were on board.
President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with his campaign staff in Moscow that Russian investigators have concluded that Ukraine used US-supplied Patriot air defense systems to shoot down the transport plane. Ukrainian authorities did not deny shooting down the plane, but did not claim responsibility and called for an international investigation.
Putin said Russia would not only welcome but “demand” an international investigation into what Ukraine called a “crime.”.
