Ukraine, Russia exchange 200 POWs each in latest swop
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Family members holding portraits of missing or captured relatives seek news of their loved ones from Ukrainian prisoners of war freed on March 5.
PHOTO: AFP
- Ukraine and Russia exchanged 200 prisoners of war each on March 5, despite stalled peace negotiations. The US supported the agreement.
- Tearful relatives greeted freed POWs, many captured during Mariupol's 2022 siege. President Zelensky emphasised, "No one is forgotten."
- Both sides plan to exchange another 300 prisoners each on March 6, indicating ongoing humanitarian efforts.
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KYIV - Ukraine and Russia exchanged 200 prisoners of war each on March 5 in their latest swop, officials on both sides said, despite a deadlock in US-backed negotiations to end the four-year conflict.
Kyiv and Moscow have carried out regular POW exchanges throughout the war, committing during recent talks in Geneva to a new round of such swops even as negotiations remain stuck over the question of territory.
“Every time our people come home, it proves that Ukraine is working to bring everyone back. No one is forgotten,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X.
“We involve mediators. I am grateful to everyone who helps Ukraine. I thank the United States for its support in making this exchange possible.”
Some of the POWs freed on March 5 were captured as far back as Moscow’s siege of Mariupol in early 2022, Mr Zelensky added.
Tearful relatives greeted loved ones - many of them draped in Ukrainian flags - as they emerged from a bus that had arrived at an undisclosed location to chants of “Welcome!”
The two sides are expected to trade a further 300 POWs each in a second day of exchanges on March 6, officials said. REUTERS
