Ukraine and Russia start largest prisoner swap since invasion : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1280x853+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F19%2Fd8%2Fb9c9769345e7a887dfb75d479fe4%2Fgettyimages-2215927259.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1280x853+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F19%2Fd8%2Fb9c9769345e7a887dfb75d479fe4%2Fgettyimages-2215927259.jpg" class="img" alt="Two-hundred and seventy Ukrainian military personnel and 120 civilians are returned to Ukraine after the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that Moscow and Kyiv had exchanged that amount of prisoners each in the first round of a large-scale swap on Friday." fetchpriority="high"/> Two-hundred and seventy Ukrainian army personnel and 120 civilians are returned to Ukraine after the Russian Protection Ministry introduced on Friday that Moscow and Kyiv had exchanged that quantity of prisoners every within the first spherical of a large-scale swap on Friday. Army Administration of Kyiv Metropolis/Anadolu through Getty Photographs disguise caption

toggle caption

Army Administration of Kyiv Metropolis/Anadolu through Getty Photographs A CITY IN NORTHERN UKRAINE — Ukraine and Russia started the alternate of 1,000 prisoners of struggle Friday, the most important such swap for the reason that starting of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"We're bringing our individuals dwelling," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media, after the troopers had crossed into Ukraine. Shortly after that they had crossed, he posted a number of images of the freed Ukrainians, many draped within the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag.

He mentioned 390 individuals had been included within the first of a three-day alternate. "This settlement was reached at a gathering in Turkey," he added, "and you will need to totally implement it."

Ukrainian authorities requested NPR to not disclose the placement out of safety considerations. An space with so many Ukrainian troopers and civilians gathered in a single place might be susceptible to a strike.

This POW alternate was the one deal made throughout uncommon direct talks between the 2 nations in Istanbul final week. President Trump took to social media asserting the completion of the swap earlier than it occurred.

Ukrainian authorities mentioned 270 troopers and 120 civilians had been included in Friday's alternate.

Zelenskyy's workplace mentioned earlier this month that greater than 8,000 Ukrainian troopers are estimated to have been captured by Russia for the reason that starting of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. In keeping with Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, greater than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians are additionally in Russian captivity.

A kind of civilians is Volodymyr Mykolayenko, the previous mayor of the southern metropolis of Kherson. His niece Hanna Korsun-Samchuk advised NPR that Russian forces took him away after occupying the town for a number of months in 2022.

"I have been attempting to lift the problem of civilian prisoners as a result of there is not any simple process for exchanging them," she mentioned on Monday in an interview in Kherson.

Dozens of Ukrainian households waited for hours in a leafy courtyard for the liberated prisoners of struggle, hoping their family members can be amongst them. They held banners, flags and posters emblazoned with photos of their family members, all troopers.

Katya Kobel, who's from the northern metropolis of Chernihiv, wept as she spoke about her husband, Hryhori, who has been in Russian captivity since December 2023. She says she discovered he was captured within the japanese Donetsk area after receiving textual content messages with images of her husband from a Russian quantity.

"They advised me, 'We now have captured your man,' " she mentioned.

Natalia Apetyk is hoping her 23-year-old son, Yelizar, will lastly come dwelling. He has been in Russian captivity since 2022, when he was captured whereas defending japanese Ukraine from a Russian incursion.

"At the moment it's precisely three years since his final name, and tomorrow it will likely be three years since he disappeared," she mentioned.

Eighteen-year-old Milena Moroz is holding {a photograph} of her father, Yevhen, who was taken prisoner in February of this yr in japanese Ukraine. She says she did not see her father as a lot as she would have preferred, since her mother and father are divorced.