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Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war
Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war

Daily Maverick

time7 hours ago

  • Politics
  • Daily Maverick

Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war

Prisoner exchange follows Istanbul talks on June 2 Emotional reunions as POWs return home Kyiv and Moscow remain far apart on ending the war By Aleksandar Vasovic and Vladyslav Smilianets lt of direct talks between the two sides in Istanbul on June 2 that resulted in an agreement to exchange at least 1,200 POWs on each side and to repatriate thousands of bodies of those killed in Russia's war in Ukraine. The return of POWs and the repatriation of the bodies of the dead is one of the few things the two sides have managed to agree on as broader negotiations have failed to get close to ending the war, now in its fourth year. Fighting has raged on, with Russia saying on Monday its forces had taken control of more territory in Ukraine's east-central region of Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv saying Moscow had launched its largest drone attack of the war. Officials in Kyiv said some of the Ukrainian prisoners who came home on Monday had been in Russian captivity since the beginning of the war. At a rendezvous point for the returning Ukrainian prisoners, soon after they crossed back into northern Ukraine, an official handed one of the freed men a cellphone so that he could call his mother, a video released by Ukrainian authorities showed. 'Hi mum, I've arrived, I'm home!' the soldier shouted into the receiver, struggling to catch his breath because he was overcome by emotion. The released Ukrainian men were later taken by bus to a hospital in northern Ukraine where they were to have medical checks and be given showers, food and care packages including mobile phones and shoes. Jubilation was tinged with sadness because outside the hospital were crowds of people, mostly women, looking for relatives who went missing while fighting for Ukraine. The women held up pictures of the missing men in the hope that one of the returning POWs would recognised them and share details about what happened to them. Some hoped their loved ones would be among those released. Oksana Kupriyenko, 52, was holding up an image of her son, Denys, who went missing in September 2024. 'Tomorrow is my birthday and I was hoping God will give me a gift and return my son to me,' she said, through tears. PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSISTANCE Neither side said how many prisoners had been swapped on Monday, but the Russian Defence Ministry said in its own statement that the same number of military personnel had been exchanged on each side. Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said at the weekend that a first list of 640 POWs had been handed to Ukraine. The Russian military said its returned servicemen were now in Belarus, a close Russian ally, where they were receiving psychological and medical assistance before being transferred to Russia for further care. Footage broadcast by Russia's RIA state news agency showed a group of freed Russian soldiers on board a coach raising their hands in the air and shouting: 'Hurrah we're home.' The same group was shown holding a Russian flag and chanting 'Russia! Russia!' before boarding the coach. 'It is very difficult to convey what I'm feeling inside now. But I am very happy, proud and grateful to everyone who took part in this process, in the exchange and bringing us home,' said one freed Russian soldier. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country had received a first group of prisoners from Russia and that it would take several days to complete the swap. Both sides say the intention for this round of prisoner swaps is also to hand over people who are gravely ill or severely injured. The people seen being handed over so far on Monday appeared to be fit and well. 'Today's exchange has begun. It will be done in several stages in the coming days,' Zelenskiy said on the Telegram app. 'The process is quite complex, with many sensitive details, and negotiations continue virtually every day. 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.'

Europe throws support behind Ukraine special tribunal to prosecute Russia
Europe throws support behind Ukraine special tribunal to prosecute Russia

Yahoo

time09-05-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Europe throws support behind Ukraine special tribunal to prosecute Russia

By Andriy Perun and Vladyslav Smilianets LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - Europe threw its support on Friday behind a special tribunal to prosecute President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, a show of unity on a day when Moscow marks its "victory day". At a meeting in Ukraine's western city of Lviv, ministers from almost 20 European nations gave their political sign-off to the tribunal, welcoming the completion of the technical work required to set it up. The tribunal will be set up within the framework of the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights watchdog that was formed after World War Two to uphold rights and the rule of law. European nations have stepped up their efforts since U.S. President Donald Trump authorised sanctions in February against the International Criminal Court, created to prosecute war crimes when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves. Russia denies its troops have committed atrocities in Ukraine since its forces launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine says Russian troops have committed many thousands of war crimes. Foreign ministers from the so-called 'core group' of at least 37 countries signed the "Lviv statement", a document marking the conclusion of work done to draft the necessary legal instruments for the tribunal. The tribunal could start operating next year. "This tribunal will ensure that those most responsible for the aggression against Ukraine are held accountable," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it was a moral duty for Europe to hold Russia accountable for the war. "A strong tribunal for the crime of aggression can - and must - make any potential aggressor think twice," he said in a video address to the meeting. 'GOOD STEP' An EU official said the tribunal would need to respect the immunity of Putin and his officials while in office but added a prosecutor would be able to investigate and prepare a proposed indictment for when that immunity dropped. Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel welcomed the move. "I think it is a good step because it fills a void that currently exists, which is how can you prosecute the leadership for the crime of aggression against another country," he told Reuters in Kyiv. Earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal led ministers to a military cemetery in Lviv to honour some of the tens of thousands of Ukrainians killed during more than three years of war against Russia. The images were in stark contrast to the show of military might in Moscow, where Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the World War Two defeat of Nazi Germany. Drawing a parallel with the allied victory in World War Two, British foreign minister David Lammy said 80 years later "in Ukraine we are (again) on the frontlines of that fight for freedom ... sending a powerful message to Putin and his cronies and those that stand with him that freedom will prevail". European nations are trying to ramp up the pressure on Putin to accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, as proposed by the United States. Separately, Britain on Friday announced a new package of sanctions on Russia's so-called shadow fleet. Ukraine has been pushing for the creation of a special tribunal since early in the conflict, accusing Russian troops of committing many thousands of war crimes, but is also intent on prosecuting Russians for orchestrating the 2022 invasion. The ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Putin over the deportation of Ukrainian children. Moscow says the warrant is meaningless, and "null and void". But the ICC cannot prosecute Russian officials for the crime of aggression in Ukraine because Russia is not a member of the Rome Statute, which created the court, and Ukraine was not a full member at the time of the invasion. For the ICC to prosecute the crime of aggression, members must also sign an additional amendment. (Writing by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Ukraine's mining heartlands tell Trump: Don't take advantage of us
Ukraine's mining heartlands tell Trump: Don't take advantage of us

Yahoo

time29-04-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Ukraine's mining heartlands tell Trump: Don't take advantage of us

By Vladyslav Smilianets and Thomas Peter ZHOVTI VODY, Ukraine (Reuters) - As Kyiv and Washington work on a deal that will give the U.S. a share of Ukraine's mineral wealth, Ukrainians who live with seams of iron beneath their feet have a message for Donald Trump: don't take advantage of us, these resources are ours. The U.S. president has put pressure on Kyiv by threatening to stop the flow of military supplies to help it fight Russia's invasion unless the U.S. gets some payback for the billions of dollars the aid is costing. But the deal is sensitive for Ukraine, which has a proud history of mining coal and iron ore and hopes to exploit seams of increasingly sought-after rare earths. Mineral revenues are a crucial pillar of the state budget. In the city of Kryvyi Rih, on whose outskirts open-cast iron ore mines have gouged huge craters in the landscape, 71-year-old pensioner Oleksandr had little time for Trump: "You can't trust that ginger guy, he's not that kind of person." "From what I can see, they only want to take, not to give," he said as he shopped near the UGOK iron ore mining and processing plant. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, himself from Kryvyi Rih, said on Monday the negotiations on creating a mineral revenue fund from which the U.S. would draw had made progress since a memorandum of intent signed on April 18: "The document has become much stronger - more equitable - and could be beneficial to both our peoples, for Ukraine and for America." 'MINERALS BELONG TO THE PEOPLE' Zelenskiy knows he must win Trump over after a difficult relationship so far, but that there will be uproar at home if he makes a bad deal. About 60 km (40 miles) north of Kryvyi Rih is the town of Zhovti Vody - or "yellow waters" - where uranium and iron ore were mined for decades. "I hope that the people who are involved in this think about Ukraine and its people, because our mineral riches belong to the people," said 71-year-old resident Nina Fesenko. Olga Marynska, 68, said she hoped the government would prevent Ukraine being exploited. "We don't have to give them everything," she said. "I don't think we have to do it in such a way that they take everything out of that fund." Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Sunday that there was now agreement that the deal would not seek to pay for U.S. aid provided to Kyiv in the past. That may help to reassure Ukrainians who feel they have battled Russia since 2022 not only for themselves but also on behalf of the West: the U.S.-led NATO defence alliance that they seek to join, and the European nations to which many Ukrainians feel much closer than to President Vladimir Putin's Russia. "I do think that for us as Ukrainians, it feels a little bit like another country is using our vulnerability, which was not created by us," said Ukrainian legislator Inna Sovsun. She said it was "critically important when we are designing the future to keep in mind that people will live here in the future". (Additional reporting by Anastasiia Malenko; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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