Russia said on June 25 it had exchanged 90 captive soldiers for an equal number of Ukrainian soldiers in a deal mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
"As a result of the negotiation process, 90 Russian servicemen who were in mortal danger in captivity have been returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In return, 90 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian armed forces were handed over," Russia's Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
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The ministry said the released Russian prisoners returned to Moscow for medical checks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also confirmed the prisoner swap on Telegram.
“Home is not just words,” Zelenskiy said. “Home is Ukraine. We remember all our people in Russian captivity. We continue to work for the liberation of each and every one.”
Zelenskiy said those exchanged primarily served in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhya.
U.A.E. state media outlet WAM confirmed the U.A.E.’s role as mediator of the exchange. This marks the third time this year that the U.A.E. facilitated a prisoner swap, beginning on February 9 with the exchange of 100 prisoners on each side.
The U.A.E. also facilitated a May 31 prisoner exchange in which 75 prisoners were returned to Russia and Ukraine respectively.
The Ukrainian Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said the exchange on June 25 involved 32 National Guardsmen, 17 representatives of the Naval Forces, 15 army soldiers, eight Territorial Defense Forces members, and 18 Border Guards were part of the exchange.
The headquarters said 59 of the 90 Ukrainian servicemen released served in Mariupol.
Andriy Yermak, the Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said those brought home included servicemen who defended the Azovstal steel mill in the port of Mariupol in 2022 and others taken prisoner when Russian forces captured the Chernobyl nuclear plant.