01:32Mandatory credit: Office of the President of Ukraine
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 190 prisoners of war (POW) on Friday following the '95 to 95' formula in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Video posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Telegram account shows relatives and friends waiting for released servicemen with placards and flags. Soldiers could be seen arriving by bus, greeting people and hugging their loved ones.
According to Zelensky, the released men were serving on different fronts including Mariupol, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kiev, Kharkov, Cherniakhiv, and Kherson.
"Every time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we move closer to the day when freedom will be restored to all those in Russian captivity," wrote Zelensky.
The captured servicemen swap is the tenth exchange of POWs since the beginning of the year and the 58th since the start of the conflict, according to the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Released Ukrainian servicemen greet loved ones after UAE mediates Moscow-Ukraine prisoner swap
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 190 prisoners of war (POW) on Friday following the '95 to 95' formula in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Video posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Telegram account shows relatives and friends waiting for released servicemen with placards and flags. Soldiers could be seen arriving by bus, greeting people and hugging their loved ones.
According to Zelensky, the released men were serving on different fronts including Mariupol, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kiev, Kharkov, Cherniakhiv, and Kherson.
"Every time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we move closer to the day when freedom will be restored to all those in Russian captivity," wrote Zelensky.
The captured servicemen swap is the tenth exchange of POWs since the beginning of the year and the 58th since the start of the conflict, according to the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Mandatory credit: Office of the President of Ukraine
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 190 prisoners of war (POW) on Friday following the '95 to 95' formula in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Video posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Telegram account shows relatives and friends waiting for released servicemen with placards and flags. Soldiers could be seen arriving by bus, greeting people and hugging their loved ones.
According to Zelensky, the released men were serving on different fronts including Mariupol, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kiev, Kharkov, Cherniakhiv, and Kherson.
"Every time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we move closer to the day when freedom will be restored to all those in Russian captivity," wrote Zelensky.
The captured servicemen swap is the tenth exchange of POWs since the beginning of the year and the 58th since the start of the conflict, according to the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.