Russia exchanged 103 prisoners of war with Ukraine, including Russian soldiers captured during the Ukrainian attack in the Kursk region. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Kiev received 103 soldiers as part of the second exchange between the two countries in two days.

The UAE’s state-run news agency WAM reported that the country had brokered the exchange, noting that it was the eighth such mediation.

The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed the information about mediation efforts by the UAE. All the Russian soldiers being exchanged are currently in Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance, the ministry added.

The Ukrainian offensive that began on August 6 in the Russian border region of Kursk caught Moscow by surprise, and Kiev claimed to have captured hundreds of Russian soldiers.

According to Russian media, these detainees are mainly draftees and border guards. Russian conscripts do not fight in Ukraine but perform their mandatory one-year military service on national soil and generally have no real military experience.

It is recalled that on August 24, Russia and Ukraine announced that they had carried out, also with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates, an exchange of 230 prisoners, including Russian soldiers captured in Kursk.

Also read: Ukraine – Russia | Exchange of 230 prisoners of war