Russia and Ukraine said they exchanged an unspecified number of sick and wounded prisoners of war on Tuesday under an agreement reached at peace talks last week in Turkey.
The handover took place after an initial swap of prisoners under the age of 25 was conducted on Monday.
“Today marks the first stage of the return of our seriously wounded and injured soldiers from Russian captivity. All of them require immediate medical attention. This is an important humanitarian act,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram, adding that exchanges would continue.
An official Ukrainian video showed smiling prisoners of war leaving a bus at an undisclosed location, wrapped in flags of Ukraine or of their units. Many chanted “Glory to Ukraine”.
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In a statement, Ukrainian military intelligence said most of the freed soldiers had serious injuries and illnesses including amputations, infections and trauma.
It also said that due to security considerations, the exact number of those released would be announced only after the exchange process was completed.
The defence ministry in Moscow said the Russians freed in the latest handover were in Belarus, which borders the warring countries, and would be returned to Russia for medical treatment and rehabilitation.
Prisoner exchanges have been the only tangible result so far of peace talks between the two sides in Turkey, which resumed last month after a gap of more than three years but have failed to make progress towards a ceasefire. A thousand captives on each side were traded in a swap last month, the biggest of the war so far.
At last week’s meeting, the two sides also agreed to hand over the bodies of thousands of dead soldiers, but this transfer has yet to take place.
Also yesterday, Mr Zelenskiy voiced his frustration with US president Donald Trump and called for “concrete actions” rather than “silence” after Russia launched one of its largest attacks on Kyiv since the war began.
Seven of the Ukrainian capital’s 10 districts were hit overnight after a total of 316 drones and seven missiles were launched at targets across the country in the early hours of Tuesday.
Two people died in strikes on Odesa but it was Kyiv that was the focus of Russia’s ferocious barrage.
The unrelenting night-time raid stretched over five hours and will be seen as part of a continuing response by the Kremlin to Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, which struck Russia’s nuclear-capable bombers on Monday of last week.
The strikes on Tuesday morning followed a record 419 drones being launched at Ukraine the previous night.
In a statement on his Telegram channel, Mr Zelenskiy appeared to criticise the lack of response from the US and others to the recent stepping up of Russia’s attacks.
“Russian strikes with missiles and Shaheds [drones] are louder than the efforts of the United States and others in the world to force Russia to peace,” Mr Zelenskiy said.
He said : “It is important that the response to this and other similar Russian strikes is not the silence of the world but concrete actions. Actions by United States, which has the power to force Russia to peace. The actions of Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong. The actions of others in the world who have called for diplomacy and an end to the war and who have been ignored by Russia. Hard pressure is needed for peace.” – Agencies
