Russia, Ukraine conduct large-scale prisoner swap

CHERNIHIV, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine carried out an exchange of prisoners of war on Monday involving POWs under the age of 25 and others who had been severely wounded, marking the start of what could become the biggest swap of the conflict so far.

The exchange, announced by both sides, was the result of direct talks in Istanbul on June 2 that resulted in an agreement to conduct an exchange of at least 1,200 POWs on each side and to repatriate thousands of bodies of killed fighters.

The return of POWs and the repatriation of the bodies is one of the few things on which the two sides have been able to agree, even as their broader negotiations have failed to get close to ending the conflict — now in its fourth year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had received the first group of prisoners from Russia and that it would take several days to complete the swap.

"Today's exchange has begun. It will be done in several stages in the coming days," Zelensky said on the Telegram app.

"The process is quite complex, with many sensitive details, and negotiations continue virtually every day. We count on the full implementation of the humanitarian agreements reached during the meeting in Istanbul. We are doing everything possible to bring back every single person."

He posted images of soldiers draped in Ukrainian flags, cheering and hugging.

"Among those we are bringing back now are the wounded, the severely wounded and those under the age of 25," he added.

Russia's Defense Ministry also confirmed that the swap was part of "agreements reached on June 2 in Istanbul".

Neither side said how many prisoners had been swapped on Monday, but the Russian Defense Ministry said the same number of military personnel had been exchanged on each side.

Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said over the weekend that a first list of 640 POWs had been handed to Ukraine.

The Russian military said its returned servicemen were now in Belarus where they were getting psychological and medical assistance before being transferred to Russia for further care.

The swap appeared to be in jeopardy over the weekend, when Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations of delaying and thwarting the planned exchange.

The Kremlin said earlier on Monday that Russia was ready to honor agreements with Ukraine on POW exchange and on the repatriation of dead soldiers despite what it said was Kyiv's failure to fully honor its side of the bargain.

Ukraine had denied allegations of postponing the prisoner swaps.

Key advance

In another development, Russia said on Sunday that it was advancing into Ukraine's eastern Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in its three-year military operation.

Ukraine's top political and military leaders did not immediately respond to the claim of the advance, which would be a symbolic and strategic blow after months of battlefield setbacks.

Russia's Defense Ministry said forces from a tank unit had "reached the western border of the Donetsk People's Republic and are continuing to develop an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region".

State media quoted the ministry as saying on Monday that Russian troops "continued to advance into the depths of the enemy's defense "and had increased the area of territory in Dnipropetrovsk they controlled.

Asked if Russia was trying to create a buffer zone by pushing into the region, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, "Without a doubt that is part of it."

Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the four regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia — that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.

It is an important mining and industrial hub for Ukraine, and deeper Russian advances into the region could have a serious effect on Kyiv's struggling military and economy.

Agencies via Xinhua