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Zelenskyy said some of the Ukrainian soldiers freed by Russia were held for more than two years.
Scenes from a previous POW swap between Russia and Ukraine. (IMAGE: X/REPRESENTATIVE)
Russia and Ukraine each said on Wednesday that 150 of their captured soldiers had been returned in the latest prisoner-of-war exchange between the two warring countries.
The two sides regularly swap prisoners of war in one of the only forms of cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow amid the nearly three-year war.
“Some of the guys had been in captivity for more than two years,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.
Zelensky said 150 Ukrainian troops were being brought back, but did not mention handing over any Russian soldiers.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had swapped 150 captured Ukrainian troops for the return of 150 Russians held by Kyiv.
Its troops were undergoing medical checks in allied Belarus before returning to Russia, it said.
Zelensky posted photos showing the troops, some draped in Ukrainian flags, sitting in a bus on the way back to Ukraine.
Both sides said the deal was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, which has helped broker many such exchanges.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)
