Oct 23 (Reuters) – Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 270 people each in the latest prisoner-of-war swap, following talks with US negotiators earlier this week.
Nine civilians were among those Kyiv was bringing back, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X. Most of the servicemen have been held since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he added.
“We remember one and all and continue searching for everyone,” Zelenskiy said.
“Among those returning are five people who survived the Russian terrorist attack in Olenivka in July 2022.”
Ukraine accused Russia of committing a war crime with a strike on Olenivka that killed dozens of prisoners. Russia said Ukraine had fired at the camp.
Yana Lantratova, Russia’s human rights commissioner, said Ukraine had handed Russia seven of its civilians who could now be reunited with their families.
“Some people were unable to return to their loved ones for a long time due to problems with their documents. Others found themselves far from their families, without support or any money to get by,” Lantratova said in a statement, thanking her Ukrainian counterpart and the International Committee of the Red Cross for their help.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Telegram that its freed servicemen were in Belarus and would be transported to Russia once they had received psychological and medical assistance.
It released a video of the freed Russian soldiers smiling and boarding a bus before clapping and shouting “Hurrah!”
Thousands of prisoners have been exchanged since the start of the full-scale war, one of the few areas where Moscow and Kyiv have maintained on-off contacts despite the conflict.
The last large-scale swap took place on August 19, when 103 Ukrainians were returned from Russian captivity, and another 10 people were brought back later that month.
(Reporting by Reuters,Editing by Ros Russell)
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