More than 200 captured Ukrainian soldiers return home following prisoner of war swap with Russia
More than 200 Ukrainian soldiers have been released by Russia as part of a prisoner of war swap between Kyiv and Moscow.
Russia and Ukraine each handed over 205 captured soldiers in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates, the Kremlin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday, local time.
The Ukrainian president confirmed the news on social media, sharing images of the freed soldiers hugging loved ones and holding aloft the country's flag.
"Our people are free. Our people are home," Mr Zelenskyy said.
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They have been scattered across many Russian regions, imprisoned within a system whose only purpose was to torment them and destroy their humanity.
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Ukraine's prisoners of war affairs organisation said the returned prisoners consisted of 202 enlisted men and three officers from various parts of the military and national guard.
Mr Zelenskyy also thanked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) "for their mediation and support" as they brokered the prisoner exchange deal. Russia also thanked the UAE.
Russia's defence ministry confirmed its soldiers had also been released by Ukraine and were currently in Belarus undergoing medical and psychological check-ups.
The prisoner swap was negotiated by the United Arab Emirates.
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Twitter: @ZelenskyyUa
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Three-day ceasefire to go ahead
The Kremlin said that Russian forces still planned to cease fighting in Ukraine between May 8-10.
Mr Putin
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Donald Trump says Ukraine is prepared to give up Crimea, territory that Russia annexed after 2014. So what do both sides of the conflict want to see before ending the war?
Russia has previously breached it own Easter truce with a strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Palm Sunday.
Mr Zelenskyy has been calling for a longer ceasefire to enable peace negotiations to take place, saying it should last at least 30 days.
Russia warned it would respond if Ukrainian forces tried to strike during the new proposed 72-hour ceasefire.
"There will be a ceasefire, but in the event that there is no reciprocity on the part of the Kyiv regime and attempts to strike our positions or our facilities continue, then an appropriate response will be given immediately," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
On May 9, Mr Putin is hosting international leaders on Moscow's Red Square, including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Drone attack forces Moscow airport shutdown
The prisoner of war swap came as a Ukrainian drone attack forced Moscow to close its airports for several hours, Russian officials said on Tuesday.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on social media at least 19 Ukrainian drones were destroyed on their approach to Moscow "from different directions," causing no major destruction or injuries.
Russia's aviation watchdog said flights were halted at all four airports that serve Moscow for several hours overnight to ensure air safety.
Airports in a number of regional cities were also closed.
Kyiv said that Russia attacked Ukraine with 136 drones, of which 54 were shot down and 70 others fell without causing any damage.
Ukraine said its drone attacks were aimed at destroying infrastructure key to Moscow's overall war efforts and were in response to Russia's continued assault on Ukrainian territory.
In Russia's Kursk region, Kyiv forces attacked a power substation, the regional governor said, after Russian war bloggers reported a new Ukrainian land-based incursion into the area backed by armoured vehicles and drones.
Ukraine's military reported it had beaten back 18 Russian attacks over the past 24 hours in Russia's Kursk region, an area which Moscow said last month it had retaken.
Reuters/AFP
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