Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war under the age of 25 on Monday in emotional homecoming scenes, the first step in a series of planned prisoner swaps that could become the biggest of the war so far.
The exchange, announced by both sides, was the result of direct talks in Istanbul on June 2nd that resulted in an agreement to exchange at least 1,200 POWs on each side and to repatriate thousands of bodies of those killed in the war.
The return of prisoners and the repatriation of bodies is one of the few issues the two sides have been able to agree on, even as their broader negotiations have failed to get close to ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
Fighting has raged on, with Russia saying on Monday its forces had taken control of more territory in Ukraine’s east-central region of Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv saying Moscow had launched its largest drone attack of the war.
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Officials in Kyiv said some of the Ukrainian prisoners who came home on Monday had been in Russian captivity since the beginning of the war.
At a rendezvous point for the returning Ukrainian prisoners, soon after they crossed back into northern Ukraine an official handed one of the freed men a mobile phone so that he could call his mother, a video released by Ukrainian authorities showed.
“Hi Mum, I’ve arrived, I’m home!” the soldier shouted into the receiver, struggling to catch his breath because he was overcome by emotion.
Neither side said how many prisoners had been swapped, but the Russian defence ministry said in a statement that the same number of military personnel had been exchanged on each side.
Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said at the weekend that a first list of 640 prisoners had been handed to Ukraine.
The Russian military said its returned servicemen were now in Belarus, a close Russian ally, where they were receiving psychological and medical assistance before being transferred to Russia for further care.
Footage broadcast by Russia’s RIA state news agency showed a group of freed Russian soldiers on board a coach raising their hands in the air and shouting: “Hurrah, we’re home.”
The same group was shown holding a Russian flag and chanting “Russia! Russia!” before boarding the coach.
“It is very difficult to convey what I’m feeling inside now. But I am very happy, proud and grateful to everyone who took part in this process, in the exchange and bringing us home,” said one freed Russian soldier.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country had received a first group of prisoners from Russia and that it would take several days to complete the swap.
“Today’s exchange has begun. It will be done in several stages in the coming days,” Mr Zelenskiy said on the Telegram app.
“The process is quite complex, with many sensitive details, and negotiations continue virtually every day. We count on the full implementation of the humanitarian agreements reached during the meeting in Istanbul. We are doing everything possible to bring back every single person.”
On Sunday night and in the early hours of Monday morning, Russia launched 479 drones at Ukraine in the war’s biggest overnight drone bombardment, the Ukrainian air force said.
As well as the drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western regions.
Ukraine said its air defences destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight, claiming that only 10 drones or missiles hit their target.
Officials said one person was injured. It was not possible to independently verify the claims.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military claimed on Monday that special operations forces struck two Russian fighter jets stationed at the Savasleyka airfield at the Nizhny Novgorod region, 650km from the border with Ukraine.
