Agencies
Kiev/Moscow
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Russian defence ministry said it had swapped 150 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for an equal number of Russian troops. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy said 189 Ukrainians had returned home.
He added that those released included “defenders of Azovstal and Mariupol”, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and Snake Island. Outside a hospital in northern Ukraine, anxious relatives were wrapped up against the bitter winter cold, waiting for their loved ones. One woman, Alina, was waiting for her husband, Oleksandr. He was captured defending the city of Mariupol in 2022.
“I have so many emotions,” she said, tears streaming down her face, “It’s been so difficult. I just want to see him.” The Russian defence ministry meanwhile said newly-released Russian troops were in Belarus, an ally of Russia, and were being given medical assistance and the chance to contact their families. In a video posted by Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova, soldiers were seen gathered in front of coaches in military and winter clothing.
“Very soon our guys will hug their families and friends and celebrate the New Year on their native land,” she said in an accompanying message.
This was the 59th prisoner exchange since the full-scale invasion began and one of the biggest so far.
On the Ukrainian side, those released included soldiers, border guards, National Guardsmen and Navy servicemen. Many had been in captivity for more than two-and-a-half years, and Ukrainian officials said some had returned with serious illnesses and injuries.
For some families, the agonising uncertainty has come to an end. But thousands more Ukrainians remain in captivity in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine. Officials in Kiev told the BBC that negotiations about prisoner exchanges have become more difficult in recent months - ever since Russian forces began to make significant advances on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is set to receive $15bn from Washington as part of a major aid package from the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram on Monday, shortly after another pledge from the US.
The $15bn is to be used for social and humanitarian purposes and was agreed between the World Bank, as administrator of the funds, and the Ukrainian Finance Ministry, Shmyhal said. Despite protests from the Kremlin, the sum is secured by interest income on Russian state assets frozen in the West.
The G7 and the European Union aim to use this approach to provide Ukraine with a loan of $50bn. The US share amounts to a total of $20bn.
Under outgoing US President Joe Biden, Washington has been the most important backer of Ukraine in the war launched by Russia on February 24, 2022, but fears are growing that could change once US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
Earlier, Biden announced another tranche of security assistance for Ukraine worth some $2.5bn, as he seeks to bolster Kiev’s defences against Moscow’s invasion before leaving office.
