Ukraine war: Moscow, Kyiv exchange hundreds of POWs, a week after a military plane crashed carrying Ukrainian soldiers
- Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war, just a week after Moscow said Kyiv shot down a plane carrying dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers
- Kyiv has disputed Moscow’s claim and instead blamed Russia for trying to use the incident to hurt Ukrainian morale
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Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war on Wednesday, just a week after Moscow said Kyiv had shot down a plane carrying dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 207 people – both soldiers and civilians – had returned to Ukraine.
“Our people are back. 207 of them. We return them home no matter what,” Zelensky said in a social media post, claiming it was one of the biggest swaps so far.
Russia’s defence ministry said close to 200 of its soldiers were freed.
“On January 31, as a result of the negotiation process, 195 Russian servicemen who were in mortal danger in captivity were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In return, exactly 195 prisoners from the armed forces of Ukraine were handed over,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
It was cited by the RIA state news agency as saying the United Arab Emirates played a role in brokering the deal.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its soldiers would be flown to Moscow to receive medical and psychological treatment.
Uncertainty remains over the circumstances of last week’s crash, in which a Russian Il-76 military cargo plane was downed in a field near its western border with Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a US Patriot missile was used to shoot down the transport plane.
“The plane was shot down, it has already been established for certain, by an American Patriot system,” Putin said in a televised appearance.
The plane was shot down on January 24 and Russian authorities said 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board.
There was no immediate response from Kyiv or Washington to Putin’s remarks.
In previous statements and comments, Ukrainian officials have not outright denied Russia’s version of events, but questioned if the plane really was carrying Ukrainian POWs, and called for Moscow to publish photos of their bodies or provide other evidence to back up its claims.
Putin also said Russia was “insisting” on an international investigation into the downing of the plane, but said “there are no international organisations willing” to take part.
Zelensky has also called for an international investigation, but said it would likely be hampered as Russia has full control over access to the crash site.
Patriots are guided surface-to-air missiles that can be used to target aircraft or defensively to take out incoming missiles.
The United States agreed to send Patriot missile systems to Ukraine at the end of 2022 after months of requests from Kyiv.
The downing of the plane had thrown doubt on the future of prisoner exchanges between the two sides.
Ukraine said Wednesday’s exchange was the 50th swap between the two sides since Russia invaded in February 2022.
The two countries have carried out periodic prisoner swaps via intermediaries since the war began nearly two years ago, despite the absence of any peace talks between them since the early months of the conflict.
The latest and biggest exchange was on January 3, when they traded a total of 478 captives following mediation by the United Arab Emirates.
