On Friday, Russia announced a significant prisoner swap involving 95 Ukrainian soldiers exchanged for an equal number of Russian troops. The deal was facilitated by the United Arab Emirates, according to the Russian defence ministry.
The Russian defence ministry confirmed, "As a result of the negotiation process, 95 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime." In return, it stated that 95 Ukrainian army prisoners of war were handed over as part of the agreement.
Ukrainian Rights Activist Among Those Released
While Kyiv has not officially confirmed the exchange, the human rights organisation Zmina reported that prominent Ukrainian rights activist Maksym Butkevych was freed. His father provided this information. Butkevych, a co-founder of the independent Hromadske radio station and a Ukrainian serviceman, had been serving a 13-year sentence for allegedly wounding two civilians while operating an anti-tank grenade launcher in Severodonetsk.
Butkevych joined the Ukrainian army in March 2022, was detained in June, and subsequently convicted of war crimes by a court in Lugansk, in the Russian-controlled eastern region of Ukraine, in March 2023.
Ongoing Exchanges Amid Conflict
Despite the persistent hostilities, both Russia and Ukraine have engaged in multiple prisoner exchanges since the onset of Moscow's offensive in 2022, often mediated by countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey. The most recent reported swap occurred in September, involving the exchange of 206 prisoners of war, also facilitated by the UAE.
Earlier on the same day, Kyiv announced the receipt of the bodies of 501 soldiers who lost their lives fighting against Russian forces, primarily in eastern Ukraine, as part of repatriation efforts. In a reciprocal gesture, Russian lawmaker Shamsail Saraliyev disclosed that Russia had received 89 bodies of its own soldiers in return.
With inputs from Reuters
Image Source: Multiple agencies
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