The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Sunday that 94 servicemen have been returned from captivity, reportedly in exchange for 95 Ukrainian fighters, as Moscow and Kiev conducted the latest in a series of prisoner swaps.
A video published by the Defense Ministry showed dozens of soldiers, visibly overwhelmed with emotion, being driven home in buses and provided with food and fresh clothes.
The ministry claimed the soldiers included in the latest swap had been in “mortal danger” while in Ukrainian captivity, but provided no further details. Russia’s human rights commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, said that they would be transported to medical facilities for treatment and psychological rehabilitation.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, said that Kiev had secured the release of 95 fighters, including some who were taken captive during the battle for Artyomovsk (known in Ukraine as Bakhmut), which Russian forces captured in May after months of heavy fighting.
Since the start of the Ukraine conflict, Moscow and Kiev have conducted numerous POW swaps – one of the few remaining paths of diplomatic engagement between the two countries.