Russian cadets walk past police guarding Manezhnaya Square in Moscow, Russia, on May 8, 2026, on the eve of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany during World War II.
| Photo Credit: AP

Moscow and Kyiv swapped 103 prisoners of war each on Saturday in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates, a rare moment of coordination between the two warring sides as Russia pushes ahead in east Ukraine.

The Russians released in the swap were captured during Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, Moscow said, while some of the Ukrainians freed had been held prisoner since Moscow seized the Azovstal steel plant in May 2022.

“Another 103 soldiers were returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.

Among the freed were 82 privates and sergeants as well as 21 officers, Zelensky said.

“The defenders of Kyiv, Donetsk, Mariupol and Azovstal, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and the Kharkiv regions,” he added.

Russia confirmed it had “handed over” 103 Ukrainian army prisoners, and received 103 Russian servicemen captured by Kyiv in its Kursk offensive in return.

“At present, all Russian servicemen are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, where they are being provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance, as well as an opportunity to contact their relatives,” the Russian defence ministry said.

Despite ongoing hostilities, Russia and Ukraine have managed to swap hundreds of prisoners throughout the two-and-half-year conflict — often in deals brokered by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia or Turkey.

The announcement comes a day after Zelensky said 49 Ukrainian POWs had been returned from Russia, and three weeks ago both sides swapped 115 prisoners each in a deal also mediated by the UAE.

The UAE’s foreign ministry hailed the deal as a “success” and thanked both sides for their cooperation on Saturday.

Russian advances

The prisoner swap came as Russia pushed ahead in east Ukraine, where it claims to have captured a string of villages in recent weeks.

The Russian defence ministry said in a daily briefing it had “liberated” the village of Zhelanne Pershe, less than 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the key Ukrainian-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

Pokrovsk lies on the intersection of a key road that supplies Ukrainian troops and towns across the eastern front and has long been a target for Moscow’s army.

More than half of the city’s 60,000 residents have fled since the invasion began in February 2022, with evacuations ramping up in recent weeks as Moscow’s army closes in.

Ukraine had hoped its major cross-border incursion into the Kursk region last month would slow down Russia’s advances in the east.

On Friday, Zelensky said Moscow had been slowed down somewhat but conceded the situation on the eastern front was “very difficult”.

Russia meanwhile claimed this week to have clawed back a swath of territory in the Kursk region, as it mounted what appeared to be a counter-offensive.

Missile spat

Tensions between Russia and the West over the conflict reached dire levels this week over UK and US discussions about letting Ukraine use longer-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia.

The discussions came after a visit to Kyiv by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British counterpart David Lammy.

President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Thursday that green-lighting the use of the long-range weapons deep inside Russia would put the NATO military alliance “at war” with Moscow.

“This would in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict,” Putin told a state television reporter.

“It would mean that NATO countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia,” he added.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden on Friday delayed a decision on the move.

US officials believe the missiles would make a limited difference to Ukraine’s campaign and also want to ensure that Washington’s own stocks of the munitions are not depleted.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react after a swap, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at an unknown location in Ukraine, in this handout picture released August 24, 2024. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russia and Ukraine exchanged over 100 prisoners of war on Saturday (August 24, 2024) as Kyiv marked its third Independence Day since Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

Ukraine said the 115 servicemen who were freed were conscripts, many of whom were taken prisoner in the first months of Russia’s invasion. Among them are nearly 50 soldiers captured by Russian forces from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the 115 Russian soldiers had been captured in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched their surprise offensive into Russia two weeks ago. The Ministry said the soldiers were currently in Belarus but would be taken to Russia for medical treatment and rehabilitation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X that the United Arab Emirates had again brokered the exchange, the 55th since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

Photos attached to Mr. Zelensky’s post show gaunt servicemen with shaven heads and wrapped in Ukrainian flags.

“We remember each and every one. We are searching and doing our best to get everyone back,” Mr. Zelensky said in the post.

Officials from the two sides meet only when they swap their dead and POWs, after lengthy preparation and diplomacy. Neither Ukraine nor Russia discloses how many POWs there are in total.

According to the U.N., most Ukrainian POWs suffer routine medical neglect, severe and systematic mistreatment, and even torture while in detention. There have also been isolated reports of abuse of Russian soldiers, mostly during capture or transit to internment sites.

Last January, Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release.

Two people were killed and four were wounded, including a baby, when Russian forces shelled the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the capital of the partially occupied Kherson region, according to local officials.

Ukraine’s air force said it had intercepted and destroyed seven drones over the country’s south. Russian long-range bombers also attacked the area of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island with four cruise missiles, while the wider Kherson region was also struck by aerial bombs.

In Russia, the Defence Ministry said Saturday (August 24, 2024) that air defences had shot down seven drones overnight.

Five drones were downed over the southwestern Voronezh region bordering Ukraine, wounding two people, regional Governor Aleksandr Gusev said. News outlet Astra published videos appearing to show explosions at an ammunition depot after being hit by a drone. The videos could not be independently verified.

Two people were wounded in a drone attack in the Belgorod region, also bordering Ukraine, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Local authorities did not report any casualties in the Bryansk region, where the fifth drone was intercepted.

In the Kursk region, regional Governor Alexei Smirnov said Saturday (August 24, 2024) that three missiles were shot down overnight and another four on Saturday (August 24, 2024) morning.

Russian air defences shot down two more drones on Saturday (August 24, 2024) morning, Russia’s Defence Ministry said — one over the Kursk region and one over the Bryansk region.

Ukraine marked its 33rd Independence Day Saturday (August 24, 2024) as its war against Russia’s aggression reaches a 30-month milestone. No festivities are planned and instead Ukrainians will mark the day with commemorations for civilians and soldiers killed in the war.

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda arrived by train early Saturday (August 24, 2024) to Kyiv in a symbolic show of support from one of Ukraine’s key allies.

Videos posted by his office show him being greeted by Ukrainian officials and later paying his respects in a ceremony at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine.

Mr. Duda’s visit to Kyiv, his fifth since February 2022, sends a message that Warsaw’s support for Ukraine remains strong as the war drags on for the third year.

Poland, located to Ukraine’s west, has donated arms and become a hub for Western weapons destined for Ukraine. It has also welcomed tens of thousands of Ukrainians who fled the war. It hosts the most Ukrainian refugees outside of the country after Germany.

A trade dispute over Ukrainian grain that dragged down ties last year, and historical grievances between the two countries, sometime provoke bad feelings, particularly among Poles who remember a World War II-era massacre by Ukrainian nationalists.

Kyiv:

Ukraine and Russia announced their first exchange of prisoners of war in nearly four months on Friday, with 150 people freed after negotiations mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 75 Ukrainian prisoners had been returned from Russia. They included four civilians while the rest were members of the military.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said Ukraine handed over 75 people in a deal brokered by the UAE, RIA news agency reported.

“After a long pause, another prisoner swap took place: 75 defenders and civilians were released from the enemy’s captivity,” Ukraine’s Coordinating Committee on Dealing with Prisoners of War said.

Pictures released with a statement from the committee showed servicemen draped in blue and yellow national flags.

Ukrainian officials said they brought back 19 defenders of Snake Island, a tiny rocky outcrop in the Black Sea that became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance in the first days of the war when Ukrainian guards refused to surrender to Russian forces.

The committee also said that as a part of the swap, the bodies of 212 Ukrainian defenders were handed over by Russia.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A woman holds candles and a portrait of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died unexpectedly in prison. Reuters
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was close to being freed in a prisoner swap at the time of his death, Maria Pevchikh, a Navalny ally, said on February 26, repeating her allegation that President Vladimir Putin had him killed.

Speaking on YouTube, Ms. Pevchikh said talks about exchanging Navalny and two unnamed U.S. nationals for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian FSB security service hit man in jail in Germany, were in their final stages at the time of his death.

Navalny (47) died at an Arctic penal colony on February 16. The Kremlin has denied Russia had any involvement in his death. Navalny’s death certificate stated that he died of natural causes, according to his supporters.

Also read | Who are other Russian dissidents besides the late Alexei Navalny?

Ms. Pevchikh did not name the two U.S. nationals in contention to be swapped along with Navalny. But the United States has said it is trying to return Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. marine.

“Alexei Navalny could be sitting in this seat right now, right today. That’s not a figure of speech, it could and should have happened,” said Ms. Pevchikh.

“Navalny should have been out in the next few days because we got a decision about his exchange. In early February, Putin was offered to exchange the killer, FSB officer Vadim Krasikov, who’s serving time for a murder in Berlin, for two American citizens and Alexei Navalny.”

Ms. Pevchikh said she had confirmation that negotiations for the swap were in their final stages on the evening of Feb. 15.

Navalny, she alleged, had been killed a day later because Mr. Putin could not tolerate the thought of him being free.

Ms. Pevchikh said Navalny’s allies had been working since the start of the Ukraine war on a plan to get him out of Russia as part of a prisoner exchange involving “Russian spies in exchange for political prisoners”.

She said they had made desperate efforts and tried to find intermediaries, even approaching the late Henry Kissinger, but said Western governments had failed to show the necessary political will.

“Officials, American and German, nodded their heads in understanding. They recounted how important it was to help Navalny and political prisoners, they shook hands, made promises and did nothing.”