Hundreds of soldiers freed in the latest prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that saw the release of hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates, officials said Monday.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and national guards — along with two civilians — were freed. He thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the exchange.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 150 Russian soldiers were freed from captivity as part of the exchange in which each side released 150 people.

The reason for the discrepancy in numbers wasn’t immediately clear.

“We are working to free everyone from Russian captivity,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “We do not forget anyone.” He posted pictures of Ukrainian soldiers sitting on a bus, some holding the country’s blue-and-yellow flags.

In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, a group of Russian soldiers sit in a bus after being released in a prisoners swap between Russia and Ukraine, at an unspecified location in Belarus. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Zelenskyy said that those freed from Russian captivity included defenders of the Snake Island off the Black Sea port of Odesa, which was seized by Russia in the opening days of its invasion, as well as troops who defended the city of Mariupol, that was captured by Moscow’s forces early in the war after a nearly three-month siege.

“The return of our people from Russian captivity is always very good news for each of us,” Zelenskyy said. “And today is one of those days: our team managed to return 189 Ukrainians home.”

In Moscow, the Defense Ministry said that Russian servicemen were first taken to the territory of Russia’s neighbor and ally Belarus, where they received “psychological and medical assistance” before moving to Russia.

Russia and Ukraine have conducted dozens of such prisoner exchanges during the nearly three-year war.

The prisoner exchange came as President Joe Biden announced Monday that the United States will send nearly $2.5 billion more in weapons to Ukraine as his administration works quickly to spend all the money it has available to help Kyiv fight off Russia before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.