Russia and Ukraine exchange POWs captured in Kursk

More than a hundred troops captured by Ukraine during its incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region have been freed, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

As part of the exchange, Moscow handed over 115 Ukrainian prisoners of war to Kiev and received 115 Russian soldiers in return, the ministry announced in a statement on Saturday.

The released Russian servicemen are currently in Belarus, where they are being provided with psychological and medical assistance, as well as with the means to contact their relatives, it said.

The troops will soon be brought to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation at Defense Ministry medical facilities, the statement read.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) provided “humanitarian mediation efforts” during the talks to return the Russian troops from captivity, the military said.

On August 6, Ukraine launched its largest attack on internationally recognized Russian territory since the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022. The advance into Kursk Region was swiftly halted by Russia’s military, but Ukrainian troops still hold a number of settlements in the border area.

A week-and-a-half after the launch of the incursion, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky claimed that Kiev’s troops had taken over a hundred Russian soldiers captive.

On Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that since the start of its attack in Kursk Region, Ukraine has lost more than 5,550 troops and hundreds of units of military equipment, including 71 tanks and 57 armored personnel carriers. “The operation to destroy the Ukrainian armed formations continues,” the ministry stressed.

Last week, Major-General Apty Alaudinov, the commander of the Akhmat Special Forces from Russia’s Chechen Republic, told RIA-Novosti that Ukrainian troops taking part in the incursion into Kursk Region had started “actively surrendering.” At around the same time, the media outlet published a video showing 24 Kiev soldiers from one unit voluntarily laying down their arms near the village of Komarovka. They used a dedicated Telegram channel to inform the Russian military of their intentions, the agency said.