Russia and Ukraine each freed 50 prisoners of war in the latest development in the war after the two sides met in Abu Dhabi to discuss the negotiations.
The latest exchange allowed the 100 soldiers from both sides to go back home to each of their home countries. Officials from Russia and Ukraine said that following negotiations, each side freed 50 imprisoned soldiers.
Prisoner Exchange
In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said that 50 Russian servicemen were returned to their home country from the territory controlled by Kyiv on Nov. 24, following the negotiation process. The agency added that the captives were in mortal danger while imprisoned in Ukraine.
The announcement added that the returned soldiers will be taken to Moscow and be given treatment and the necessary medical and psychological assistance. An official from the office of the President of Ukraine, Andrii Yermak, two officers among the 50 who were released was captured in battles in Mariupol, Azovstal, Chernobyl power plant, and Snake Island, as per CNN.
Yermak said in a statement that Ukrainian officials continue to work on releasing all of Ukraine's captured soldiers from imprisonment. He also expressed his gratitude for the work of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatments of Prisoners of War.
The Ukrainian official said that there have been 86 Ukrainian service members who have already been returned, adding that a total of 1,269 people were released over the course of the Russian invasion.
According to France24, the prisoner exchange came as Ukrainian energy workers struggled to restore power after Russian missile strikes pummeled Ukrainian energy infrastructure, leaving millions of citizens without power.
In a statement, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, accused Moscow of weaponizing winter, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for immediate action from the UN against Russia's "formula of terror."
Read Also : Kim Jong Un's Sister Sends Stern Message to USA Over Anti-North Korean Acts: 'Be Mindful'
Russia-Ukraine War
Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 15,000 people have gone missing, said an official from the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). In July, the Hague-based organization opened an office in Kyiv to assist Ukraine in documenting and tracking down missing individuals.
The agency's program director for Europe, Matthew Holliday, said that it remained unclear just how many people had been forcibly transferred, were being held in detention in Russia, were alive and separated from their family members, or had died and had been buried in makeshift graves.
The prisoner exchange after Russian and Ukrainian representatives met in the United Arab Emirates last week to discuss negotiations. The talks were linked to the resumption of Russian ammonia exports, which go to Asia and Africa via a Ukrainian pipeline.
Sources familiar with the meeting said that the Gulf Arab state mediated the talks and did not include the United Nations. This came despite the UN's central role in negotiating the ongoing initiative to export agricultural products from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
They added that the negotiations seek to remove the remaining obstacles in the initiative extended last week and aim to ease global food shortages by unblocking Ukrainian and Russian exports, Reuters reported.
