A new group of prisoners of war exchanged between Russia and Ukraine – Liberation
One of the few results of recent talks. Ukraine and Russia announced the start on Monday, June 9, a new exchange of prisoners of war which will continue in the coming days. They did not specify, for security reasons, according to Kyiv, the number of soldiers involved in this exchange which had been decided During a second cycle of direct negotiationsin Istanbul, June 2.
Russians and Ukrainians then agreed to release all prisoners of war seriously injured or sick and those under the age of 25. It was one of the only points of agreement found during these talks, in addition to an upcoming exchange of several thousand bodies of soldiers killed in combat. Apart from this, peace negotiations are deadlocked.
“A first group of Russian soldiers under the age of 25 has been repatriated from the territory under the control of the Kyiv regime. In exchange, the same number of soldiers from the Ukrainian army has been transferred ”, the Russian Defense Ministry announced in a statement. This news « Exchange has started today and will take place in several stages in the coming days », then explained the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, adding that « The process (was) quite complex » and that « Negotiations continue practically every day ».
« For security reasons, the final number of liberated people will be made public once the exchange process is completed », For his part underlined the Ukrainian Coordination Center for prisoners of war, adding that we also continued to work on the repatriation of the bodies of killed soldiers, as agreed in Türkiye.
According to this source, it is the 66th exchange of prisoners between Kyiv and Moscow since the start of the large -scale Russian invasion in February 2022. The Ukrainian mediator for human rights, Dmytro Loubinets, said that the soldiers of his country exchanged on Monday were « In their vast majority » in captivity since 2022.
It has been more than three years since Russia and Ukraine regularly have exchanges of prisoners and remains of soldiers. The two belligerents had already exchanged some 1,000 people From each camp, soldiers and civilians, after the first new cycle of direct negotiations in Istanbul, in May. However, they are far from a lasting settlement of the conflict or even a ceasefire.
During the night from Sunday to Monday, Russian strikes took place, as almost daily. Russia launched a record number of 479 explosive drones On Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force announced. The day before, the Russian army had claimed to attack the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, which borders those of Donetsk and Zaporijia already partially under Russian control, a first in addition to three years of conflict.
Russia continues to advance maximalist requests, namely that Ukraine gives it the territories whose annexation it claims and renounces to enter NATO. She rejects the truce « Unconditional » Thirty days wanted by Kyiv and Europeans, judging that it would allow Ukrainian forces to rearm thanks to Western deliveries. Ukraine demands, for its part, the pure and simple withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory and « Safety guarantees » On the part of Westerners, be it the deployment of troops on the spot or military agreements. It qualifies the Russian requirements of« Ultimatums ».
In December 2024, the Ukrainian authorities estimated that more than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians were detained by Russia, without specifying the number of prisoner soldiers. The number of Russian soldiers detained in Ukraine has not been revealed. The two camps accuse each other of violating the Geneva Convention relating to the treatment of prisoners of war. Several Ukrainian soldiers told AFP to have been tortured in captivity.
