Ukraine and Russia exchange more than 200 prisoners of war

Europe, News January 2, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

To mark the new year, Ukraine and Russia reported that soldiers were freed from both sides after a coordinated exchange on December 31, 2022.

The latest exchange between the two countries involved more than 200 servicemen from both sides.

According to the Russian ministry of defense, 82 Russian soldiers were freed from the Ukrainian side while the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said that Russian handed over around 140 Ukrainian servicemen that had been captured during the ten-months long conflict. The cohort consisted of some 132 men and eight women.

Despite a complete breakdown of diplomatic relations and border closure, the two sides have carried out several rounds of prisoner swaps in recent months involving hundreds of personnel from both sides.

The latest exchange between the two countries came last week when Russia released 64 Ukrainians as well as one U.S. citizen who was captured by the Russian forces in Ukraine.

We will get back all of our people. No other option. Thanks to the Coordinating Headquarters for the POWs Treatment. pic.twitter.com/8SslyOQ1Jo
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) December 31, 2022

The White House national security spokesman, John Kirby, did not name the freed U.S. citizen, citing privacy and security concerns. Kirby also did not specify whether or not the U.S. government had been in contact with the Ukrainian officials to bring back the freed citizen and when he would return back to his home country. Kirby told reporters that “We certainly welcome that news.”

Andriy Yermak, however, identified the U.S. citizen as Suedi Murekezi. He said that Murekezi had been “helping our people” before he ended up in Russian custody. He did not elaborate on the nature of the help that he had been providing to Ukraine or the reason why Russian forces captured him as a prisoner of war.

*^{Ukrainian civilians and soldiers return home in a prisoner swap with Russia. (Image Credit: Twitter/AndriyYermak)}*

So far during the conflict, Moscow has seized a fifth of Ukraine’s expanse in its south and east, including Luhansk and Donetsk. However, Russian forces are facing a severe setback in form of Ukraine’s counter-attack as Ukrainian forces have swept back a substantial portion of captured land over the course of the last few weeks.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that talks should resume on cessation of the conflict and that Kyiv must recognize Russia’s rule over the captured territories.

“Our absolute priority is four new Russian regions,” he said. “They should become free from the threat of Nazification that they have faced for many years,” the official said, adding that “We will protect our compatriots, citizens, and lands that have been Russian for centuries.”