By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ABU DHABI/MOSCOW/KYIV (Worthy News) – The United Arab Emirates, or UAE, has played a major role in exchanging 115 prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine, Worthy News established Sunday.
The release of 230 prisoners in total marked the first exchange since Kyiv launched its cross-border offensive in Russia’s Kursk region earlier this month.
“The UAE has successfully mediated a new captives exchange between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ukraine, resulting in the release of 230 captives,” the Gulf country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The ministry added that it was the UAE’s seventh mediation effort between the two countries this year.
Some 82 Ukrainian soldiers who served in the defense of Mariupol were among those sent back home.
At the same time, the Russian detainees were freed after being captured in the Kursk area during the ongoing cross-border offensive by Ukrainian troops.
NATIONAL GUARD
“Another 115 of our defenders have returned home today,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“These are warriors of the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy, and the State Border Guard Service.”
The UAE said the latest exchange comes a month after an earlier round of captive swapping between the two sides.
It comes while fighting continues in Europe’s most significant armed conflict since World War Two. Kyiv says it wants to invite Russia to an upcoming peace conference.
So far, Moscow has declined, saying Ukraine’s current demands, such as giving up all annexed Ukrainian territories, are unacceptable.
Yet, with thousands of Ukrainian forces now inside Russia, Kyiv hopes to create conditions on the ground for future negotiations.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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