Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war, but Moscow received no war dead, Russia says
June 14 (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners-of-war (POWs) on Saturday, the Russian defence ministry said, and Russia handed over the bodies of 1,200 dead Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv.
The exchanges are part of agreements reached by the warring sides during talks in Istanbul earlier this month. Ukraine earlier on Saturday confirmed it had received the bodies of its soldiers killed in action.
However, Russian state media reported, citing sources, that Moscow had not received any of its war dead back from Kyiv, echoing a statement Russia made on Friday, when it said it had returned the bodies of 1,200 slain Ukrainian soldiers and received none of its own.
The Russian defence ministry did not say how many POWs were involved in the swap with Ukraine on Saturday, but it posted video showing its soldiers holding Russian flags and cheering before boarding a bus.
The Russian soldiers are in Belarus, where they are receiving medical treatment before transfer back to Russia, the defence ministry said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Fighting Russia is now Europe's problem: America is about to leave the stage
So it's official: Washington is pulling the plug on military aid to Ukraine. At Congressional hearings this week US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth confirmed the Trump administration has a 'very different view' of the war in Ukraine to that of Joe Biden's – and insisted that a 'negotiated peaceful settlement is in the best interest of both parties and our nation's interests.' Given that the topic of the hearings was the US's 2026 military budget, the message could hardly have been clearer. Fighting Russia is now Europe's problem. Washington has given Ukraine some $74 billion in military aid since Putin's invasion in February 2022. That includes game-changing equipment such as Patriot air defence systems that are Ukraine's only effective defence against Russian ballistic missiles, ATACMS and HIMARS missiles, long-range M777 artillery, tanks, armoured vehicles, and millions of artillery rounds. Some of the Biden-era packages are still coming down the procurement pipeline. But the bitter bottom line for Kyiv is that it has been abandoned by its most powerful and deep-pocketed ally. That leaves Ukraine three options. The first is to rely on Europe stepping in to supply the weapons and equipment it needs. The second – proposed earlier this month by Zelensky – was to buy US made weapons from Washington with European money. The third is to make the weapons it needs in Ukrainian factories, funded by money from European allies. Happily for Ukraine, Europe's leaders have repeatedly promised to step up to the plate and deliver what Ukraine needs to fight on. Less happily, in practice, Europe seems better at promising than actually stepping. Back on February 9, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced a 'ReArm Europe' package in Brussels that 'could mobilise close to €800 billion of defence expenditures over five years … This is a moment for Europe, and we are ready to step up.' But it soon emerged that this staggering sum was not, in fact, ready money but represented an easing of borrowing constraints on EU members if they chose to increase their defence budgets. On March 19 EU high representative for external relations, Kaja Kallas, proposed a €40 billion arms aid package for Ukraine. But that plan was shot down by doubters such as Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain and Italy. Last month Europe finally put some cash (albeit someone else's cash) on the table by directing €1 billion from the EU's Peace Facility – made from frozen Russian assets – towards financing Ukraine's domestic arms industry. Kyiv will certainly put that aid to good use. Domestic production now meets up to 50 per cent of Ukraine's military needs, despite repeated Russian strikes on factories. And Ukraine already outproduces the EU in the production of many weapons. Output of Ukraine's Bohdana howitzer is now 20 per month, outpacing the production of French Caesars, and could double with more EU funding. Drone production is scaling up fast, with five million small First Person View (FPV) drones planned for 2025, plus 30,000 long-range drones, and 3,000 cruise missiles. Plus some of the new Ukrainian kit is actually better than foreign supplied equipment because it's tailored more precisely to the specific needs of the killing fields of Donbas. Ukraine's Limma Electronic warfare system outperforms Russian and Western tech in jamming Russian glide bombs. And of course there's Ukraine's extraordinarily bold and sophisticated mass drone attack on Russian strategic bombers deep inside Siberia and the Arctic earlier this month, which featured drone swarms hidden in the roofs of prefabricated housing units and trucked right to their targets by unwitting freelance drivers. So there's no doubt that Ukraine has the technical sophistication, the industrial capacity and the tactical imagination to create its own formidable defences. Indeed, by many metrics the Ukrainian army is not only the largest but also the best-equipped on the European continent, bar Russia's. But Ukraine also has deep vulnerabilities further down the defence-procurement totem pole when it comes to the nuts-and-bolts sinews of war, from artillery shells to bullets to spare parts. And the most urgent military and political problem of all is a looming chronic shortage of bodies to man the front lines. Videos of violent press-gang tactics used to round up military-age men – often featuring posses of citizens rallying to save the men targeted – are the subject of daily online anger on Ukraine's social media. Stories of Russia's imminent economic and military collapse make for feel-good reading – but aren't borne out by ongoing and relentless assaults in the air and on the ground. Russia is set to spend $160 billion on defence this year, and thanks to purchasing power disparities a dollar spent in Russia gets far more bang for the buck. A Russian T-90 costs approximately $4.5 million, a US M1 Abrams can cost as much as $9.61 million. Western defence experts have warned that US-made Patriot missile systems, in production since 1981, are increasingly ineffective against Russian hypersonic cruise missiles and massed swarms of Iranian Shaheed drones. Can Ukraine survive just on its own resources, and Europe's intermittent money? The deepest irony of all is that much of the Kremlin's lavish defence spending is directly financed by Europe itself, which is due to spend over €20 billion buying oil, gas, coal and uranium from Russia in 2025.
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Putin tells Trump in phone call Moscow ready to resume peace talks
Vladimir Putin told US counterpart Donald Trump on Saturday that Moscow was ready to hold a fresh round of peace talks with Kyiv after 22 June, once the sides complete exchanging prisoners and soldiers' bodies. Putin and Trump held a 50-minute phone call on Saturday to discuss the escalating situation in the Middle East and Ukraine peace talks, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said. Trump posted on Truth Social to say Putin had called 'to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday' on the day he turned 79, but that 'more importantly' the two discussed the Iran-Israel crisis: 'He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end,' Trump said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Putin and Trump held a call for the fifth time since the Republican took office, in a stark pivot from the approach of his predecessor Joe Biden's administration. Trump hinted at follow-up discussions on the war in Ukraine in the coming week. Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy meanwhile did not mention whether Ukraine would agree to the next round of talks, only saying that 'the exchanges will be completed and the parties will discuss the next step.' Zelenskyy urged the United States to 'shift tone' in its dialogue with Russia, saying it was 'too warm' and would not help to end the fighting. He said he hoped that the escalation between Israel and Iran would not result in a drop in military aid to Kyiv, according to remarks published on Saturday: 'We would like to see aid to Ukraine not decrease because of this,' he said. 'Last time, this was a factor that slowed down aid to Ukraine.' The recent escalation sparked fears Washington might relocate resources at its expense, to beef up the defence of its close ally Israel which unleashed a large-scale attack on Iran Friday. A sharp rise in global oil prices following Israeli strikes on Iran will benefit Russia and bolster its military capabilities in the war in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said on Friday in comments that were under embargo until Saturday afternoon. Speaking to journalists in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the surge in oil prices threatened Ukraine's position on the battlefield, especially because western allies have not enforced effective price caps on Russian oil exports. 'The strikes led to a sharp increase in the price of oil, which is negative for us,' Zelenskyy said. 'The Russians are getting stronger due to greater income from oil exports.' Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine and Russia swapped prisoners in the fourth such exchange this week, part of a large-scale plan to bring back 1,000 wounded prisoners from each side and return the bodies of dead soldiers. The prisoner agreement was the only visible result of two recent rounds of talks in Istanbul. Photos published by Zelenskyy on Telegram showed men of various ages, draped in Ukrainian flags. Some were injured, others disembarked from buses and hugged those welcoming them, or were seen calling someone by phone, sometimes covering their faces or smiling. Moscow's defence ministry released its own video showing men in uniforms holding Russian flags, clapping and chanting 'Glory to Russia' and 'hooray', some raising their fists in the air. However, Russian state media reported that Moscow had not received any of its war dead back from Kyiv, echoing a statement Russia made on Friday, when it returned the bodies of 1,200 slain Ukrainian soldiers. Zelenskyy said he expected the prisoner swaps to continue until 20 or 21 June. Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had recaptured Andriivka village in northeastern Sumy region. Zelenskyy also claimed 'successful actions' near Pokrovsk, for months a focus of Russian attacks in their slow advance on the eastern front, and 'strong results' near Kupiansk, an area in northeastern Ukraine that has come under heavy Russian pressure. Global news agencies including Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports. Since the start of the month, Russia has intensified its advances along the frontline, especially in the north-eastern Ukrainian region of Sumy, where it seeks to establish a 'buffer zone'. Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had seized the village of Zelenyi Kut, southwest of Pokrovsk. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops had maintained defensive lines along more than 1,000 km of the frontline. He also dismissed Moscow's claims that Russian troops had crossed into the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk. Dnipropetrovsk borders three regions that are partially occupied by Russia – Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russia now controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Sky News
11 hours ago
- Sky News
The bodies of more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers returned to Kyiv after prisoner swap
Why you can trust Sky News More than 1,000 Ukrainian bodies have been handed back to Kyiv after a prisoner-of-war exchange - as Volodymyr Zelenskyy renews calls for sanctions. The Ukrainian president said on social media that many of those released by Russia had been "held captive since 2022". "It is our absolute duty to free them all," he added. "And we are working toward exactly that - to leave no one behind in the enemy's hands. I thank everyone who is helping." Russia's defence ministry said it had handed over the bodies of 1,200 dead Ukrainian soldiers on Friday, but state media reported on Saturday that Moscow had not received any of its war dead back from Kyiv. The ministry added that its soldiers are in Belarus, where they are receiving medical treatment before being transferred back to Russia. It comes after both sides agreed to exchange those held captive at talks in Istanbul earlier this month. However, the talks failed to lead to a ceasefire. In a post on X, Mr Zelenskyy renewed calls for sanctions on Russia, saying that "no one has been able to stop Putin" and that "he must lose money" to end the war. "Capping the price of Russian energy is critical, because oil is their main source of income," Mr Zelenskyy added. " What happens in the Middle East is now driving oil prices up, and that, in turn, affects Europe's security. "That's why oil price caps are such a powerful tool." He went on to say talks between the US and Russia "feels too warm", adding: "Putin must understand clearly: America will stand with Ukraine, including by imposing sanctions and supporting our army. "Any signals of reduced aid, or of treating Ukraine and Russia as equals, are deeply unfair. Russia is the aggressor. They started this war. They do not want to end it." It comes as the Ukrainian president dismissed claims that Russian troops had crossed into the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk - which had remained under Ukrainian control since the war started in February 2022. Mr Zelenskyy also said Ukrainian troops had stopped Russian troops from advancing in the northeastern Sumy region, and are fighting to regain control of the border. He said: "You should understand that the enemy has been stopped there. And the maximum depth at which the fighting takes place is 7km from the border."
