Ukraine swaps POW’s with Russia

Ukraine and Russia have traded some 200 prisoners of war with the bodies of two British volunteers also being sent back to Ukraine, the Polish Radio IAR news agency reported on Saturday

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) after a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. The Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, announced on 4 February 2023, that 116 Ukrainian military personnel were freed from Russian captivity and returned to Ukraine in a prisoner exchange

Photo: MINISTRY OF DEFENCE OF UKRAINE provided byPAP/EPA

Ukraine and Russia have traded hundreds of POW’s in a swap announced separately by both sides on Saturday.         

According to Ukraine’s sources, 116 of their troops have been returned while Russian sources cited 63 Russian POWs released, IAR wrote.

"We managed to return 116 of our people, defenders of Mariupol, partisans from Kherson, snipers from the Bakhmut (front) and other heroes of ours," the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram.

Yermak added that the bodies of two British volunteer aid workers Andrew Bagshaw and Chris Parry had been sent back to Ukraine.

The Britons were killed during an attempted humanitarian evacuation in eastern Ukraine in January.

In a daily video address Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday said that since the war started last February, Ukraine had secured the release of 1,762 men and women from Russian captivity.

(mo)

Source: IAR