'We thank everyone who helps make these exchanges possible,' says Ukraine's president
Russia and Ukraine on Thursday confirmed a new prisoner swap had taken place under agreements reached between the two countries during their second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month.
“Today, warriors of our Armed Forces, National Guard, and Border Guard Service are back home … This is already the second stage of bringing back severely wounded and seriously ill warriors,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X.
Zelenskyy added that Kyiv continues to work to bring its people held by Russia back to Ukraine, going on to thank “everyone” who is helping making the exchanges possible.
Russia's Defense Ministry also confirmed the exchange in a statement on Telegram, saying that a group of its servicemen was returned in exchange for a group of Ukrainian servicemen.
“Currently, Russian servicemen are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance,” the statement said, adding that they will then be transferred to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation.
No details were provided by either Russian or Ukrainian authorities on the number of prisoners swapped.
On June 2, Istanbul hosted the second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine after the first one, also in the Turkish metropolis, on May 16.
In the latest talks, the two sides agreed to exchange more prisoners of war – focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded – and return the bodies of 6,000 fallen soldiers from each side.
Both Russia and Ukraine confirmed on Monday that the first round of exchanges under the agreements reached in Istanbul had taken place.
