Russia and Ukraine exchange wounded, sick prisoners of war

Ukraine and Russia carried out another exchange of ill and seriously wounded servicemen on Thursday, according to officials from both countries.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed on the Telegram messaging app that all the Ukrainian soldiers involved require medical treatment, though he did not provide specific numbers.

Earlier this month, Kyiv and Moscow agreed in Istanbul on a large-scale swap of prisoners of war and the remains of thousands of fallen soldiers.

Since then, both sides have exchanged dozens of prisoners, mainly focusing on those under 25 years old and those who are severely injured or ill. There are hopes these exchanges could grow to become some of the largest prisoner swaps since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia’s defense ministry announced that a group of Russian troops had returned from Ukraine and crossed into Belarus as part of the agreements reached on June 2.

“They are receiving necessary psychological and medical care,” the ministry said on Telegram.

On Wednesday, Ukraine announced it had repatriated the bodies of 1,212 soldiers killed in the conflict with Russia. In return, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said Ukraine had returned the bodies of 27 Russian soldiers.