Additional Coverage:
**September 14, 2024, 11:06 AM EDT**
**Source: Reuters**
On Saturday, Russia and Ukraine executed a significant prisoner exchange involving 206 individuals, marking their second swap in just two days, facilitated by mediation from the United Arab Emirates, officials disclosed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that all 103 Ukrainians released were military personnel, consisting of 82 soldiers and privates, and 21 officers.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that the 103 Russian soldiers freed had been captured in the Kursk region after Ukrainian forces conducted a surprise assault in August.
“Our people are home,” Zelenskyy proclaimed on the Telegram messaging app. “We have successfully brought back another 103 warriors from Russian captivity to Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy shared images of the service members, draped in the national blue and yellow flag, embracing, conversing on cell phones, and posing for group photographs at an undisclosed location.
The United Arab Emirates’ state news agency, WAM, confirmed its role in the mediation, highlighting that this was the eighth such intervention since the start of 2024.
Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Kyiv and Moscow have regularly exchanged prisoners. Saturday’s swap was the third since Ukraine initiated a cross-border operation into Russia’s Kursk region in early August.
Ukrainian officials previously mentioned that their troops had captured at least 600 Russian soldiers during the incursion, which they believe will aid in securing the return of captured Ukrainians.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s ombudsman, noted that most of the freed Ukrainians had been held captive since the early days of the invasion.
He shared a brief video on Telegram showing the servicemen standing in front of a bus and chanting “Glory to Ukraine.”
Lubinets added that Kyiv has managed to secure the return of 3,672 Ukrainians through 57 exchanges so far.