Russia’s Defense Ministry today announced the exchange of 63 Russian prisoners of war, for the second time this year, thanks to the UAE’s mediation efforts, without saying how many Ukrainian troops have been sent to Kiev.
“As a result of a complicated negotiation process, 63 soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces have returned from regime-controlled areas in Kiev,” he announced in a statement.
According to the defense ministry, “at this time all soldiers are on Russian territory” and “have been offered necessary psychological and medical assistance, in addition to the opportunity to communicate with their families”.
“The group of released Russian military personnel includes people of the ‘sensitive category’, whose exchange was made possible thanks to the mediation efforts of the UAE authorities,” the ministry said, without giving further details.
On Wednesday, Russia’s ombudsman, Tatiana Moskalkova, accused the Ukrainian side of applying double standards to the prisoner exchange process by prioritizing “media figures” and crossing out regular soldiers and non-commissioned officers.
“For the Ukrainian authorities, political advantage is above piety and humanism,” denounced the provider, pointing out that it affects “the effectiveness of exchanges.”
In this sense, the Russian ombudsman added that the exchange process is taking longer, which affects the seriously injured soldiers.
Source: DN
