Russia and Ukraine announced this Saturday, April 11, the exchange of 350 prisoners of war, 175 from each side, with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates, just hours before the expected entry into force of an Easter ceasefire.
“On April 11, 175 Russian soldiers were repatriated from territory controlled by Kiev. In exchange, 175 prisoners of war from the Ukrainian armed forces were handed over”, said the Russian Ministry of Defense, in a statement published on the MAX application.
“Our soldiers are returning home. 175 soldiers. Armed Forces soldiers, national guards, border guards. Private soldiers, sergeants and officers. And seven civilians”, wrote Zelensky on his social networks.
In the case of the Russian fighters, as on previous occasions, they are in Belarusian territory, where they receive medical and psychological assistance, according to Moscow.
Furthermore, the Russian military statement added, Kiev returned seven civilians from the Russian border region of Kursk, partially occupied by the Ukrainian army for less than a year.
Moscow thanked the Emirati authorities for “the humanitarian efforts” made to complete the exchange.
For his part, Zelensky indicated that the freed Ukrainian soldiers had been captured while defending Ukraine at various points on the front, for example, in the coastal city of Mariupol (south), taken by Russia in 2022, or at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as in the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhia, Sumy and Kiev and in the Russian region of Kursk.
“Among them there are wounded. Most have been in captivity since 2022. And now, finally, they are at home”, Zelensky stressed.
The President of Ukraine thanked the work of Ukrainian units that capture Russian soldiers, increasing the reserves of prisoners of war for exchange, and highlighted the importance of rescuing all Ukrainians held captive in Russia.
Shortly before, Zelensky had reiterated that he will respect the ceasefire scheduled to begin this afternoon, the day of Orthodox Easter, but warned that he will retaliate to the same extent for any Russian violation of the truce.
“Ukraine will respect the ceasefire and retaliate strictly to the same extent. The absence of Russian air, land and naval attacks means that there will be no response from us”, reads a message from the Ukrainian president published on X.
The ceasefire is scheduled to begin at 4pm local time (2pm in Lisbon) and should last until the end of Sunday.
Zelensky emphasized that “Easter should be a period of silence and security”, but assured that “the Ukrainian army is prepared for any developments on the front line”.
“A ceasefire at Easter could also be the beginning of a real movement towards peace – our side has already made the proposal in this direction”, he added.
According to the head of state, these positions, including the possible extension of the ceasefire beyond the Easter period, have already been communicated to the Russian side.
Leave a Reply