Kyiv, Jun 25 (EFE).- Ukraine and Russia exchanged 180 prisoners of war, 90 on each side, with the help of the United Arab Emirates, both the Ukrainian presidency and the Russian Defense Ministry announced Tuesday.
«Home is not just a word. Home means Ukraine. Today, another 90 of our people returned home from Russian captivity,» Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in an English-language message on his X social media.
Soldiers of the National Guard, the Navy, the Army, the Territorial Defense Forces, the Border Guard, and some of those who defended the city of Mariupol and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant returned home, the president said.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on its Telegram channel that the exchange resulted from a negotiation process in which the United Arab Emirates provided humanitarian mediation.
«The released servicemen will be transported to Moscow by military transport aircraft of the Russian Air Force for treatment and rehabilitation in medical facilities of the Russian Defense Ministry. All those released will receive the necessary medical and psychological assistance,» the post said.
Russia and Ukraine have been conducting regular prisoner exchanges throughout the war, with the most recent taking place a month ago, when each side handed over 75 POWs, with the UAE also acting as a mediator.
The Emirati Foreign Ministry said the mediation was successful because the UAE «used its special relations and partnership with both sides,» the Emirati state news agency WAM said on Tuesday. EFE
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