Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of prisoners

Ukraine and Russia carried out a new exchange of prisoners of war yesterday, with the two sides bringing home a combined total of more than 300 former captives. Kyiv brought home 189 former captives, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russia's Defence Ministry said, while the Russian ministry said 150 Russian servicemen were returning home.

- STAFF REPORTER

The Russian ministry said the captives had been released in Belarus, Moscow’s close ally in the 34-month-old war with Ukraine, and would be transferred to Russia. Reuters Television footage in Ukraine showed waiting spouses and some servicemen, many wrapped in blue and yellow national flags, weeping openly as they were reunited well after dark outside a building.

“My son is 5 years old now, the last time I saw him he was 2 years old,” said Serhii, who was captured by Russian forces at the Azovstal steel mill in the southern port city of Mariupol, which withstood a siege for nearly three months in 2022. “That’s why my son probably didn’t recognise me. I used to have a beard and hair. I lost 20 kg (44 pounds).”

For some former captives the return to freedom involved adjustment.