By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KYIV/MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Russia and Ukraine say they have exchanged 206 prisoners of war in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates. The weekend exchange was welcomed by Ukraine’s embattled president, whose forces have struggled to halt the ongoing Russian invasion of his nation.
As they stepped out of a bus released Ukrainian prisoners of war celebrated their return near the Ukraine-Belarus border.
The release primarily concerned soldiers — including 23 women — captured around the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in 2022.
The next day, Moscow and Kyiv swapped 103 prisoners of war, each in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
“At home thank you we are at home. It were 846 days of hell. Glory to Ukraine, glory to the heroes,” said Igor Titovsky, an Azov brigade fighter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared in his joy, saying, “Our people are home.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense said its 103 released servicemen came from among those captured by Ukrainian forces when they entered Russia’s Kursk area.
SURPRISE ATTACK
Last month, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack across the Russian border, advancing up to 30 kilometers (18 miles) into the Kursk region.
President Zelenskyy said the freed Ukrainians included 82 privates and sergeants and 21 officers from the armed forces, national guard, border guards, and police.
He stressed that they had been captured defending the regions of Kyiv, Donetsk, Mariupol, Azovstal, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv.
Russia announced that its released soldiers were in Belarus and would be given the “necessary psychological and medical assistance.”
Moscow also announced they would be allowed to contact their relatives before being returned to Russia.
The deal was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, which has remained broadly neutral since Russia triggered the armed conflict by invading Ukraine in February 2022.
It was also a small joy in a war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
A revised draft of a UN Security Council resolution outlining the “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict” is set to be circulated by the United States for review among Security Council members, according to an exclusive report by The Jerusalem Post.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has declined to immediately pursue membership in the Abraham Accords, citing Israel’s control of the Golan Heights as a primary obstacle, though he suggested the Trump administration could eventually facilitate such negotiations.
French authorities have opened a formal judicial inquiry after chaos erupted during a concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Paris, where protesters lit flares and shouted anti-Israel slogans before being subdued by audience members.
Russia’s Republic of Dagestan has become the focus of an embarrassing aviation scandal after a helicopter carrying senior defense-industry officials broke apart in mid-air and crashed — an event caught on video and widely shared online, prompting authorities to launch a criminal investigation.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) faced an unprecedented crisis Monday after its director-general and head of news resigned amid accusations of political bias at what was once regarded as the flagship of both Britain and journalism worldwide.
President Donald Trump secured a significant diplomatic breakthrough Monday as Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed an agreement bringing Syria into the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, making the war-torn nation the 90th member of the U.S.-led counterterrorism alliance.
In a disappointing setback for religious freedom advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court declined without comment to hear former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis’s appeal, leaving in place a $360,000 judgment against her for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The justices let stand lower court rulings that found she violated couples’ constitutional rights under the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, despite what her legal team characterizes as a conflict with her First Amendment religious liberty rights.