Russia, Ukraine each swap 175 POWs ahead of truce

KYIV — Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 175 prisoners of war on Saturday in their latest swap, officials from both countries said, as they prepared for a ceasefire to mark Orthodox Easter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had brought home 175 servicemen and seven civilians from Russian captivity.

Russia took back 175 servicemen and also seven civilians originally from the Kursk region, the Defense Ministry said, adding that the United Arab Emirates had mediated the exchange.

Reuters TV footage showed returning Ukrainians arriving in a bus to a rousing welcome from relatives, many carrying photos of prisoners of war, some yet to be released. Some had difficulty walking and were transported by ambulance.

During more than four years of conflict, Kyiv and Moscow have carried out regular exchanges of prisoners of war. They are among the few concrete results to emerge from several rounds of United States-brokered peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which remain stalled over the issue of territory.

As both Russia and Ukraine celebrated Orthodox Easter over the weekend, they had agreed on a short, 32-hour ceasefire to mark the holiday.

However, the two countries accused each other of breaching the truce on Sunday, reporting more than a thousand drone and shelling attacks just hours after the ceasefire began.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it recorded 1,971 ceasefire violations overnight into Sunday, while Ukraine's general staff reported 479 shelling attacks and more than 1,700 drone strikes by Russian troops.

According to the calendar of the Orthodox faith dominant in both countries, Easter is celebrated this year on Sunday.

Civilian casualties

Russia said a child was among civilians injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Kursk region, while the Belgorod region's Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported two people killed by Ukrainian shelling.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service said two civilians were wounded on Sunday by a Russian drone attack in Kharkiv region.

However, in a sign that the truce had some effect, the Ukrainian army stressed that it had recorded no long-range Shahed drone attacks, guided aerial bombings or missile strikes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the temporary Orthodox Easter ceasefire on Thursday, and it was set to end at midnight on Sunday (Monday morning, Beijing time).

Zelensky, whose previous ceasefire proposals were turned down by Moscow, agreed to the truce.

Agencies - Xinhua