Russia and Ukraine exchange 103 prisoners each in deal mediated by UAE
Al JazeeraIt is the second such exchange since Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region on August 6. The Russian Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that it swapped 103 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for an equal number of Russian POWs. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “Our people are home.” The exchange of a total of 206 prisoners was facilitated in the UAE’s eighth such mediation, the Gulf nation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on social media platform X. “We have successfully brought back another 103 warriors from Russian captivity to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy posted on X on Saturday. The Russian Defence Ministry said “103 Russian servicemen captured in the Kursk region were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime” adding that “in return, 103 Ukrainian army prisoners of war were handed over”.