Hundreds of soldiers freed in UAE-brokered prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military staff, border guards and national guards – along with two civilians – were freed. He thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the exchange.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said 150 Russian soldiers were freed from captivity as part of the exchange in which each side released 150 people.

The reason for the discrepancy in numbers was not immediately clear.

“We are working to free everyone from Russian captivity,” Zelensky said in a statement. “We do not forget anyone.” He posted pictures of Ukrainian soldiers sitting on a bus, some holding the country’s blue-and-yellow flags.

Zelensky said those freed from Russian captivity included defenders of Snake Island off the Black Sea port of Odesa, which was seized by Russia in the opening days of its invasion, as well as troops who defended the city of Mariupol, that was captured by Moscow’s forces early in the war after a nearly three-month siege.