Moscow and Kyiv swap prisoners of war as Ukraine marks independence anniversary

24 August 2024, 17:34

A Russian soldier fires from a D-30 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine
Russia Ukraine. Picture: PA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United Arab Emirates had brokered the exchange.

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more than 100 prisoners of war each as Kyiv marked its third Independence Day since Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

Ukraine said the 115 Ukrainian servicemen who were freed were conscripts, many of whom were taken prisoner in the first months of Russia’s invasion.

Among them are nearly 50 soldiers captured by Russian forces from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the 115 Russian soldiers had been captured in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched their surprise offensive into Russia two weeks ago.

The ministry said the soldiers were currently in Belarus, but would be taken to Russia for medical treatment and rehabilitation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X that the United Arab Emirates had again brokered the exchange, the 55th since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Photos attached to Mr Zelensky’s post show gaunt servicemen with shaven heads and wrapped in Ukrainian flags.

“We remember each and every one. We are searching and doing our best to get everyone back,” Mr Zelensky said in the post.

Officials from the two sides meet only when they swap their dead and prisoners of war, after lengthy preparation and diplomacy.

Neither Ukraine nor Russia discloses how many prisoners of war there are in total.

According to the UN, most Ukrainian prisoners of war suffer routine medical neglect, severe and systematic mistreatment and even torture while in detention.

A Russian soldier fires from a D-30 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine
A Russian soldier fires from a D-30 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP)

There have also been isolated reports of abuse of Russian soldiers, mostly during capture or transit to internment sites.

Last January, Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release.

Five people were killed and five others wounded on Saturday in Russian shelling of the centre of the city of Kostiantynivka in Ukraine’s partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, local officials said.

In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Russian shelling killed two people and wounded four on Saturday, including a baby, officials said.

Two people were killed in a Russian drone attack, and one further person in shelling, in the northeastern Sumy region.

Ukraine’s air force said it had intercepted and destroyed seven drones over the country’s south.

Russian long-range bombers also attacked the area of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island overnight with four cruise missiles, while the wider Kherson region was also struck by aerial bombs.

In Russia, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday that air defences had shot down seven drones overnight.

Three soldiers fire a howitzer weapon
Servicemen of the 24th Mechanised Brigade fire a howitzer towards Russian positions near Chasiv Yar town, in Donetsk (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukrainian 24th Mechanised Brigade/AP)

Five drones were downed over the southwestern Voronezh region bordering Ukraine, wounding two people, regional governor Aleksandr Gusev said.

Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate claimed to have blown up a warehouse storing 5,000 tonnes of ammunition in the region’s Ostrogozhsky district.

News outlet Astra published videos appearing to show explosions at the ammunition depot after being hit by a drone.

The videos could not be independently verified.

Two people were wounded in a drone attack in the Belgorod region, also bordering Ukraine, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Local authorities did not report any casualties in the Bryansk region, where the fifth drone was intercepted.

In the Kursk region, regional governor Alexei Smirnov said on Saturday that three missiles were shot down overnight and another four on Saturday morning.

Russian air defences shot down two more drones on Saturday morning, Russia’s Defence Ministry said – one over the Kursk region and one over the Bryansk region.

Ukraine marked its 33rd Independence Day on Saturday as its war against Russia’s aggression reaches a 30-month milestone.

No festivities are planned and instead Ukrainians will mark the day with commemorations for civilians and soldiers killed in the war.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the anniversary, Mr Zelensky announced on Saturday that Ukraine has successfully used a new domestically produced drone for the first time against Russian forces.

“Today, we had the first and successful combat use of our new weapon – a completely new class of weapon, the Ukrainian missile drone ‘Palyanitsa,’” Mr Zelensky said.

He did not give further details, but added that “the enemy was struck”, and thanked the developers and manufacturers.

Mr Zelensky also said that Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region was a “preventive strike” that made it possible to avoid encirclement of part of Ukraine’s Sumy region.

Polish President Andrzej Duda arrived in Kyiv by train early on Saturday in a symbolic show of support from one of Ukraine’s key allies.

Videos posted by his office showed him being greeted by Ukrainian officials and later paying his respects in a ceremony at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine.

Mr Duda’s visit to Kyiv, his fifth since February 2022, sends a message that Warsaw’s support for Ukraine remains strong as the war drags on for the third year.

Poland, located to Ukraine’s west, has donated arms and become a hub for Western weapons destined for Ukraine.

It has also welcomed tens of thousands of Ukrainians who fled the war.

It hosts the most Ukrainian refugees outside of the country after Germany.

A trade dispute over Ukrainian grain that dragged down ties last year, and historical grievances between the two countries, sometimes provoke bad feelings, particularly among Poles who remember a Second World War-era massacre by Ukrainian nationalists.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Police carry out an investigation by houses that were hit by a plane in Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

10 killed as small plane crashes in Brazilian town popular with tourists

The sun shines on to Vasquez Cirque, new terrain for Winter Park Resort, Winter Park, Colorado

174 skiers and snowboarders rescued after ski lift in Colorado cracks

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona

Trump threatens to try to take back Panama Canal

Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwartz, in a scene from Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Sonic 3 speeds past Mufasa: The Lion King at box office

People admire the 18th century Trevi Fountain, one of Rome’s most famous landmarks, as it reopens to the public after undergoing maintenance

Rome’s Trevi Fountain reopens after renovation work

A couple embrace in front of a sea of flowers outside a church

What is known about the German Christmas market attack and its impact

The Corridoio Vasariano or Vasari Corridor in Florence, central Italy

Secret Florence passage that Medici family used to move safely reopens to public

Debris on the ground after helicopter crash, with people looking on

Four killed as helicopter ambulance crashes on take-off in Turkey

People walking amongst rubbled and the remains of homes

Five children among 22 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

Police officer at cordon beside Christmas market stalls

German authorities were warned about Christmas market attack suspect last year

Pope Francis on large screen in front of faithful in St Peter's Square

Pope in plea for ceasefires to end ‘cruelty’ of conflicts around the world

Man checking wiring outside damaged high-rise building

Russian fuel depot hit by Ukrainian drones for second time

The nine-year-old boy killed in the attack has been pictured.

'Fly little angel': Heartbroken mum pays tribute to boy, 9, killed in German Christmas market attack

US Air Force F/A-18 fighter jet performs its solo aerobatic display at the Singapore Airshow

US military accidentally shoots down one of its own fighter jets

Clean-up truck operating in a Christmas market

Four women and boy confirmed as those killed in German Christmas market attack

Palestinians round fire in camp

Displaced Palestinians enduring winter with little protection from cold