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Ukraine and Russia exchanged about 200 prisoners of war, in an operation announced by each side separately, on Saturday, with the return of the bodies of two British volunteers to Ukraine.
Russian news agencies quoted the Ministry of Defense as saying that 63 Russian prisoners of war had been released, including people from a “sensitive category”, who could be exchanged thanks to mediation efforts from the UAE.
The director of the Ukrainian President’s office, Andriy Yermak, said that 116 Ukrainians had been repatriated.
“We managed to bring back 116 of our people – defenders of Mariupol, warriors from Kherson, snipers from Bakhmut (the front) and other heroes of ours,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.
Yermak added that the bodies of two British aid volunteers, Andrew Bagshaw and Chris Barry, had been returned to Ukraine.
Barry’s family had previously said Bagshaw and Barry were killed during an attempted evacuation of residents in eastern Ukraine in January.
