Russia, Ukraine agree to prisoner swap deal brokered by UAE

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a prisoner exchange brokered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Middle Eastern country “announced the success of its mediation efforts between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in completing a new prisoner exchange process that included 230 prisoners,” per a page dated Saturday and translated from Arabic via Google Translate, on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

“Another 115 of our defenders have returned home today,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on the social platform X on Saturday. “These are warriors of the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy, and the State Border Guard Service.”

“We remember everyone,” Zelensky continued. “We are searching for them and making every effort to bring them all back.”

The Ukrainian president also said that he is “grateful to each unit that replenishes our exchange fund.”

“This helps to advance the release of our military personnel and civilians from Russian captivity,” Zelensky added. “I thank our team and partners, the UAE, for bringing our people back home.”

Russia also recently made an important prisoner swap with the U.S. earlier this summer, in which Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were freed, among others. 

“We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world. And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you,” President Biden said in a statement at the time. We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong.”