Ukraine and Russia have swapped a number of prisoners of war.
Narciso Contreras/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Russia and Ukraine said on Tuesday they had exchanged 60 prisoners of war on each side in the latest of a series of such swaps.
Russia’s defence ministry said the 60 freed Russian soldiers would be flown to Moscow to receive medical care and psychological support.
Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak hailed the returning Ukrainians as heroes and said they included dozens who had held out in the city of Mariupol – including the besieged Azovstal steelworks – until Russia forced its surrender in May.
“We continue to return the defenders of Mariupol – in today’s ‘list of 60’ there are 34 of them, including 14 from Azovstal. Some are wounded, and will receive all the necessary help in Ukraine,” Yermak said.
Some of those released had been held on Russian territory and others in Olenivka, a prisoner-of-war camp in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine, he said.
Ukraine accused Russia in July of committing a war crime with a strike on Olenivka that killed dozens of prisoners. Russia said Ukraine fired at the camp.
The two sides have exchanged hundreds of prisoners in a series of swaps over the past several months.
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. Journalism strengthens democracy. Invest in the future today. Thereafter you will be billed R75 per month. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won’t be billed.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)