In a significant development amidst ongoing hostilities, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 95 prisoners of war in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the swap, stating that 95 Russian servicemen were returned from territories controlled by the Ukrainian government. In return, 95 Ukrainian soldiers were released.
While Kyiv has not officially confirmed the exchange, the human rights center Zmina reported that prominent Ukrainian activist Maksym Butkevych was freed in the swap. This information was provided by Butkevych’s father. Butkevych, a co-founder of the independent Hromadske radio station and a Ukrainian serviceman, was serving a 13-year sentence for wounding two civilians while using an anti-tank grenade launcher in Severodonetsk, eastern Ukraine. He joined the Ukrainian army in March 2022, was detained in June, and convicted of war crimes by a court in Lugansk, located in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine, in March 2023.
Despite the ongoing conflict, Russia and Ukraine have engaged in numerous prisoner exchanges since the beginning of Moscow’s offensive in 2022. These swaps have often been facilitated by third-party countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey. The most recent reported exchange occurred in September, involving 206 POWs, also mediated by the UAE.
Earlier on Friday, Kyiv announced the repatriation of the bodies of 501 soldiers killed fighting Russian forces, mainly in eastern Ukraine. Russian lawmaker Shamsail Saraliyev told the RBK media outlet that Russia received 89 bodies of its soldiers in return for the Ukrainian soldiers’ remains. This prisoner exchange, along with the repatriation of fallen soldiers’ bodies, underscores the ongoing diplomatic efforts to mitigate the human cost of the conflict, even amidst ongoing hostilities.