Latest news with #RussianMinistryOfDefense
CNN
10 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Soldiers return home after years in captivity as Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap begins
A new prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia has begun, officials in both countries said Monday, with Ukrainian soldiers who have spent nearly the entire duration of the war in captivity among those returning home. The exchange, agreed last week during talks in Turkey, involves detained people under the age of 25, as well as those who are seriously wounded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Telegram. It follows a dispute at the weekend during which Moscow accused Ukraine of holding up the exchange — a claim that Kyiv denied. 'Our people are home,' Zelensky wrote. 'Ukrainians are returning home from Russian captivity. The exchange began today and will continue in several stages over the next few days.' Among those being released are Ukrainian soldiers who defended the city of Mariupol, which suffered a brutal Russian assault in the first few weeks of the war, the Ukraine Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said. The vast majority of those being released have been in captivity since 2022, according to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's parliamentary commissioner for human rights. Russia's Ministry of Defense also confirmed that the exchange is underway. 'The Russian servicemen are currently in the Republic of Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance,' the ministry said. Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia's delegation for peace talks with Ukraine, said last week that the exchange would be the largest since the start of the three-year war. He said Russia would transfer the bodies of more than 6,000 killed Ukrainian troops, plus an unspecified number of wounded servicemen. Monday's news comes after a weekend of accusations being hurled between both Moscow and Kyiv in relation to the exchange. Russia accused Ukraine of unexpectedly postponing the transfer of dead Ukrainian soldiers' bodies, leaving hundreds of body bags inside refrigerated trucks waiting at an exchange point it said Kyiv had agreed to. Ukrainian officials rejected Russia's account of events, saying that the two sides had agreed to exchange seriously wounded and young troops on Saturday, but a date had not yet been set for the repatriation of soldiers' remains. The prisoner swap was a result of a second set of direct peace negotiations that took place last Monday in Istanbul. Though the exchange was agreed upon, there were no major breakthroughs, with talks lasting a little over an hour. As the prisoner exchange will last multiple days, and is 'quite complex,' negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will 'continue virtually every day,' Zelensky said Monday. 'We count on the full implementation of the humanitarian agreements reached during the meeting in Istanbul. We are doing everything possible to bring back every single person. We are working toward this at every level,' he added.
CNN
10 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Soldiers return home after years in captivity as Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap begins
A new prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia has begun, officials in both countries said Monday, with Ukrainian soldiers who have spent nearly the entire duration of the war in captivity among those returning home. The exchange, agreed last week during talks in Turkey, involves detained people under the age of 25, as well as those who are seriously wounded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Telegram. It follows a dispute at the weekend during which Moscow accused Ukraine of holding up the exchange — a claim that Kyiv denied. 'Our people are home,' Zelensky wrote. 'Ukrainians are returning home from Russian captivity. The exchange began today and will continue in several stages over the next few days.' Among those being released are Ukrainian soldiers who defended the city of Mariupol, which suffered a brutal Russian assault in the first few weeks of the war, the Ukraine Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said. The vast majority of those being released have been in captivity since 2022, according to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's parliamentary commissioner for human rights. Russia's Ministry of Defense also confirmed that the exchange is underway. 'The Russian servicemen are currently in the Republic of Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance,' the ministry said. Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia's delegation for peace talks with Ukraine, said last week that the exchange would be the largest since the start of the three-year war. He said Russia would transfer the bodies of more than 6,000 killed Ukrainian troops, plus an unspecified number of wounded servicemen. Monday's news comes after a weekend of accusations being hurled between both Moscow and Kyiv in relation to the exchange. Russia accused Ukraine of unexpectedly postponing the transfer of dead Ukrainian soldiers' bodies, leaving hundreds of body bags inside refrigerated trucks waiting at an exchange point it said Kyiv had agreed to. Ukrainian officials rejected Russia's account of events, saying that the two sides had agreed to exchange seriously wounded and young troops on Saturday, but a date had not yet been set for the repatriation of soldiers' remains. The prisoner swap was a result of a second set of direct peace negotiations that took place last Monday in Istanbul. Though the exchange was agreed upon, there were no major breakthroughs, with talks lasting a little over an hour. As the prisoner exchange will last multiple days, and is 'quite complex,' negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will 'continue virtually every day,' Zelensky said Monday. 'We count on the full implementation of the humanitarian agreements reached during the meeting in Istanbul. We are doing everything possible to bring back every single person. We are working toward this at every level,' he added.
CNN
11 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Soldiers return home after years in captivity as Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap begins
A new prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia has begun, officials in both countries said Monday, with Ukrainian soldiers who have spent nearly the entire duration of the war in captivity among those returning home. The exchange, agreed last week during talks in Turkey, involves detained people under the age of 25, as well as those who are seriously wounded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Telegram. It follows a dispute at the weekend during which Moscow accused Ukraine of holding up the exchange — a claim that Kyiv denied. 'Our people are home,' Zelensky wrote. 'Ukrainians are returning home from Russian captivity. The exchange began today and will continue in several stages over the next few days.' Among those being released are Ukrainian soldiers who defended the city of Mariupol, which suffered a brutal Russian assault in the first few weeks of the war, the Ukraine Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said. The vast majority of those being released have been in captivity since 2022, according to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's parliamentary commissioner for human rights. Russia's Ministry of Defense also confirmed that the exchange is underway. 'The Russian servicemen are currently in the Republic of Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance,' the ministry said. Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia's delegation for peace talks with Ukraine, said last week that the exchange would be the largest since the start of the three-year war. He said Russia would transfer the bodies of more than 6,000 killed Ukrainian troops, plus an unspecified number of wounded servicemen. Monday's news comes after a weekend of accusations being hurled between both Moscow and Kyiv in relation to the exchange. Russia accused Ukraine of unexpectedly postponing the transfer of dead Ukrainian soldiers' bodies, leaving hundreds of body bags inside refrigerated trucks waiting at an exchange point it said Kyiv had agreed to. Ukrainian officials rejected Russia's account of events, saying that the two sides had agreed to exchange seriously wounded and young troops on Saturday, but a date had not yet been set for the repatriation of soldiers' remains. The prisoner swap was a result of a second set of direct peace negotiations that took place last Monday in Istanbul. Though the exchange was agreed upon, there were no major breakthroughs, with talks lasting a little over an hour. As the prisoner exchange will last multiple days, and is 'quite complex,' negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will 'continue virtually every day,' Zelensky said Monday. 'We count on the full implementation of the humanitarian agreements reached during the meeting in Istanbul. We are doing everything possible to bring back every single person. We are working toward this at every level,' he added.
Russia Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukraine fails to accept remains of fallen troops
Editor's note: RT initially erroneously reported that a swap of bodies in a 6,000-for-6,000 format had been agreed between Moscow and Kiev. Ukraine has not accepted the bodies of its fallen troops which Russia offered to return, providing 'strange reasons' for its decision, according to Moscow's lead negotiator in the peace talks with Kiev, Vladimir Medinsky. Russia decided to repatriate the remains of over 6,000 slain Ukrainian soldiers in a unilateral humanitarian gesture during the talks in Istanbul on Monday. Both sides also agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners each. 'The first batch of frozen remains of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers has already arrived in refrigerated trucks at the exchange area' on the border between the two countries, he said. 'The rest are on their way,' the negotiator added. Kiev has also been handed a list of 640 heavily wounded and younger prisoners held by Moscow so that they may be exchanged as well, according to Medinsky. 'The contact group of the Russian Ministry of Defense is on the border with Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian side unexpectedly postponed both the acceptance of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period,' he wrote. According to the Russian negotiator, the Ukrainian team 'did not even arrive at the exchange site.' The reasons Kiev provided to justify its decision 'are various, and rather strange,' he said without elaborating. 'We call on Kiev to strictly adhere to the schedule and all agreements that had been reached, and to immediately begin the exchange' so that the wounded could return home and the dead receive a proper burial, Medinsky urged. Moscow's team is on site and 'fully ready to work,' he reiterated, adding that 'Russia always keeps its word.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
01-06-2025
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
12 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed in Russian Strike on Army Training Unit
At least 12 Ukrainian service members were killed and more than 60 were injured in a Russian missile strike on the location of a Ukrainian army training unit Sunday, according to a statement from the Ukrainian Ground Forces. The strike occurred at 12:50 p.m. the statement said, emphasizing that no formations or mass gatherings of personnel were being held at the time. An investigative commission was created to uncover the circumstances around the attack that led to such a loss in personnel, the statement said. The training unit is located to the rear of the 1,000-kilometer active front line, where Russian reconnaissance and strike drones are able to strike. Ukraine's forces suffer from manpower shortages and take extra precautions to avoid mass gatherings as the skies across the front line are saturated with Russian drones looking for targets. 'If it is established that the actions or inaction of officials led to the death or injury of servicemen, those responsible will be held strictly accountable,' the Ukrainian Ground Forces' statement said. Northern pressure Russia's Ministry of Defense said Sunday that it had taken control of the village of Oleksiivka in Ukraine's northern Sumy region. Ukrainian authorities in Sumy ordered mandatory evacuations in 11 more settlements Saturday as Russian forces make steady gains in the area. Speaking Saturday, Ukraine's top army chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that Russian forces were focusing their main offensive efforts on Pokrovsk, Toretsk and Lyman in the Donetsk region, as well as the Sumy border area. The strikes come amid continuing uncertainty as to whether Kyiv diplomats will attend a new round of peace talks proposed by Moscow for early next week in Istanbul. Ukrainian officials have called on the Kremlin to provide a promised memorandum setting out its position on ending the more than three-year war before the meeting takes place. Moscow previously said it would share its memorandum during the talks. In his evening address Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Moscow to stop 'playing with diplomacy' by withholding the document. 'At this point, we don't have any clear information about what the Russians are planning to do in Istanbul,' he said. 'Of course, everyone in the world wants diplomacy to work and a real ceasefire to happen. Everyone wants Russia to stop playing with diplomacy and end the war. Everyone wants serious peace, and Russia must agree to this.'
