2024 ends with Russian-Ukrainian POW exchange — the 11th of the year and the 59th of the war
On Monday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war, trading 150 captured Russian servicemen for 189 captured Ukrainian soldiers. Diplomats from the United Arab Emirates mediated the deal. Officials in Moscow and Kyiv have both confirmed the POW exchange.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the released POWs include defenders of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works and the city of now-occupied Mariupol, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and Snake Island, as well as two civilians from Mariupol.
This was the first Russian-Ukrainian prisoner swap since October 18, when the two sides traded 95 POWs each. December 30 marked the 59th prisoner exchange between the two countries since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
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