Russia and Ukraine exchange 230 prisoners after mediation by the United Arab Emirates

Russia and Ukraine announced on Saturday that they had exchanged 115 prisoners of war on each side, two weeks after kyiv launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

“Another 115 of our defenders returned home today,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that “115 Russian soldiers taken prisoner in the Kursk region have been returned” and are currently in Belarus, where they are receiving “psychological and medical assistance” before their return to Russia.

Both countries thanked the United Arab Emirates, which said it had mediated the exchange and “managed to negotiate a new swap,” according to the country’s foreign ministry.

Zelensky said the exchanged prisoners were “soldiers of the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy (and) the State Border Guard Service.”

Following Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region on August 6, kyiv said it had taken hundreds of Russian soldiers captive.

kyiv and Moscow have already exchanged prisoners since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.