Russia-Ukraine War: Moscow and Kyiv Exchange 60 POW as Zelensky Visits Troops in Donbas

In the most recent of many such exchanges, Russia and Ukraine announced on Tuesday that they had swapped 60 prisoners of war on each side.

Reuters reported that the 60 liberated Russian servicemen will be transported to Moscow for medical treatment and psychological counseling per the Russian defense ministry.

Zelensky Honors Ukrainian Troops

The ministry released a video showing a group of males dressed in military uniform getting off a bus and talking on their cell phones.

Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to the Ukrainian president, praised the returning individuals as heroes and said that among them were dozens of people who had resisted Russian forces in Mariupol up to May, including those who had defended the occupied Azovstal steel mill.

Yermark noted that the return of the "defenders of Mariupol" continues, and the 60 returning individuals will receive "all necessary help in Ukraine."

According to him, some of those freed had been kept in Russian territory, while others had been housed in the Ukrainian prisoner-of-war camp at Olenivka, which is now under Russian occupation. In July, Ukraine accused Russia with a war crime for an attack on Olenivka that resulted in the deaths of several inmates.

Ukraine shot at the camp, according to Russia. Hundreds of prisoners have been swapped back and forth between the two sides for many months. The news comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits the city of Sloviansk on the front lines in the eastern Ukrainian province of Donetsk, where Russian soldiers have been continuing an attack for months.

In a video posted on his official Telegram channel, Zelensky wore a heavy coat and stood next to a huge placard in the national colors of Ukraine, blue and yellow, that said "Sloviansk" and called for a moment of silence in honor of the fallen Ukrainian troops.

Zelensky hailed the country's armed services on Armed Forces Day in his video message, per France 24. He remarked: "From the bottom of my heart, I congratulate you on this great holiday, the Day of the Armed Forces."

After Kherson's surrender, Bakhmut, 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Sloviansk, has become the center of warfare.

Putin is Set to Visit The Front Lines

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to visit the front lines of the conflict with Ukraine for the first time since Russia's invasion of the country in late February. Putin will go to the Donbas in occupied eastern Ukraine "in due time," according to Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

But former CIA officer Steve Hall has speculated that Putin's upcoming visit is a desperate effort in the face of dwindling Russian support for the conflict. British Ministry of Defense intelligence briefings released on Sunday showed that support from the homeland for the war has been dropping dramatically.

The former head of the CIA in Russia has spoken out about the impending trip, and he has shot down suggestions that it would demonstrate Russia's progress in securing Ukrainian territory it has occupied.

According to Express, Hall said that he believes that it is not a sign of Putin's security but rather his "really strong desire to demonstrate to Russians that the area is part of Russia."