Ukraine, Russia say exchanged new group of POWs

CHERNIGIV, REGION, Ukraine: Ukraine and Russia said on Thursday they had swapped a fresh group of prisoners of war, the third exchange this week as part of a deal agreed at peace talks in Turkiye.

In Istanbul last week the two sides agreed to each free more than 1,000 prisoners of war -- all wounded or under the age of 25 -- and return the bodies of killed fighters.

“Today, warriors of our Armed Forces, National Guard, and Border Guard Service are back home,” Ukraine´s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media. “They all require medical treatment,” as they were “severely wounded and seriously ill,” he added. Russia´s defence ministry also confirmed the swap, saying in a Telegram post that “a group of Russian servicemen was returned” from Ukraine.