iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
Time is running out, Antonio Guterres told the 15-member Security Council
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Russia, Ukraine exchange 206 prisoners in 2nd swap in 2 days
The gesture was made possible following negotiations mediated by UAE
Ukrainian prisoners of war pose for a picture after a swap in this handout picture released on September 14, 2024. — Reuters
Russia and Ukraine conducted a major exchange of 206 prisoners on Saturday, 103 apiece, in their second such swap in two days, following negotiations mediated by the United Arab Emirates, officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky credited the release of the prisoners to his forces' recent incursion into Russia. The released Ukrainians — 82 soldiers and privates and 21 officers — had been held since the early months of the war, he said.
The Russian Defence Ministry said that the 103 Russian soldiers exchanged had been taken prisoner in the border Kursk region where Ukrainian forces launched the surprise incursion in August.
"Our people are home," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app. "We have successfully brought back another 103 warriors from Russian captivity to Ukraine."
In his nightly video address, he thanked his combat forces for their courage and the team handling the exchanges. "In particular, our operation in the Kursk region gave a necessary boost," he added.
Zelensky posted pictures of servicemen wrapped in the national blue and yellow flag, hugging each other, talking on mobile phones and posing for group photographs at an undisclosed location.
In his video address, he said those released included soldiers who fought to defend the city of Mariupol. The Azov brigade, which took part in the three-month defence of the port in 2022, said in a post on its Telegram channel that 23 of its men were among the captives released on Saturday.
The exchange was mediated by the UAE, Emirati state news agency WAM said. It was the country's eighth such mediation since the start of 2024, it said.
Kyiv and Moscow have frequently exchanged prisoners since Russia's invasion in February 2022, and Saturday's swap was the third since Ukraine began a cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk region in early August.
Ukrainian officials have previously said Kyiv's forces had captured at least 600 Russian soldiers during the incursion, and that this would help it secure the return of captured Ukrainians.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman said that Kyiv had so far secured the return of 3,672 Ukrainians in 57 exchanges.
More news from World
Ukraine now spends roughly half of its state budget — or about $40 billion — on defence
The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel
Teams of enumerators accompanied by soldiers and armed police went door to door in Yangon to fill in the 68-question survey
The debate is likely the final one of the 2024 presidential campaign, potentially giving it some extra weight ahead of the November 5 election
Taal is one of the world's smallest active volcanoes and some of its previous eruptions have impacted the capital and air travel
The 207 to 121 vote was largely a repeat of the Conservatives' failed attempt last week to trigger snap elections
Reporters say they are frequently rounded up for covering attacks by militant groups or writing about the discrimination of women