Russia announced today that it has exchanged 103 prisoners of war with Ukraine, including Russian soldiers captured during Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Kiev received 103 soldiers as part of this second exchange between the two countries in two days.
WAM, the UAE’s state-run news agency, announced that the country had brokered the exchange, marking the eighth such mediation.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed information about the UAE’s “mediation efforts”.
“All Russian soldiers (SS: transferred) are currently in Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance,” the ministry added.
The Ukrainian offensive that began on August 6 in the Russian border region of Kursk took Moscow by surprise, and Kiev said it had captured hundreds of Russian soldiers.
According to Russian media, these prisoners are mainly draft and border guards. Russian conscripts do not fight in Ukraine, but perform their mandatory one-year military service on national soil and generally have no actual military experience.
Second Ukraine-Russia prisoner exchange in as many days
On August 24, Russia and Ukraine, brokered by the United Arab Emirates, announced that they had exchanged 230 prisoners, including Russian soldiers captured in Kursk.
Photos from the return of Ukrainian prisoners to Ukrainian lands:
Return of Russian prisoners to Russia:
