Largest Prisoner of War (POW) Exchange Between Ukraine and Russia
Largest Prisoner of War (POW) Exchange Between Ukraine and Russia
Landmark POW Exchange
According to BBC, Ukraine and Russia exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war on January 3, 2024.
It is the first POW exchange since August 2023. 230 Ukrainian POWs were exchanged for 248 Russian POWs.
Ukrainian POWs included defenders from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Snake Island, and the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
Key Details
BBC notes that both sides thanked the UAE for mediating the deal. The UAE MFA stated that the swap was made possible due to its “strong friendly relations” with both Moscow and Kyiv.
Ukraine claimed to have freed 2,598 people from Russian captivity across 48 swaps. Many Ukrainian POWs reported being subjected to torture while under Russian captivity.
Consequently, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy vowed to continue further swaps facilitated by expanding the “exchange fund” of captured Russian soldiers, stating that “the more Russian we capture, the more effective the negotiations regarding swaps will be”.