Ukraine, Russia Exchange Prisoners For First Time Since Invasion, Ukrainian Military Officer Says

A Ukrainian regional military administration chief says one Russian military police officer has been exchanged for five Ukrainian servicemen. (file photo)

Ukraine and Russia have exchanged prisoners for the first time since Russia launched a full-scale military attack against Ukraine last week, according to a Ukrainian military leader.

The chief of the military administration of Ukraine's northeastern region of Sumy, Dmytro Zhyvytskiy, said on March 1 on Telegram that the exchange took place in Sumy.

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A captured Russian military police officer, Yury Nikitin, born in 1997, from the Siberian city of Omsk, was exchanged for five Ukrainian soldiers -- Dmytro Kvitchenko, Valeriy Poznyak, Ihor Mokrenko, Andriy Frolkov, and Oleh Solonar.

“The first exchange of prisoners took place in Sumy region. We exchanged our five people from the territorial defense for one Russian military police officer," Zhyvytskiy said on Telegram.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service