Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners of war

Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukrainian authorities said that 230 Ukrainian prisoners of war returned home in the first exchange in almost five months. Russia's Defence Ministry said that 248 Russian servicemen have been freed under the deal sponsored by the United Arab Emirates.

The U.A.E.'s Foreign Affairs Ministry acknowledged its role, saying in a statement that the swap was made possible by its "strong friendly relations" with both Moscow and Kyiv.The U.A.E. has maintained close economic ties with Moscow despite Western sanctions and pressure on Russia after it launched its invasion in 2022.

Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said it was the 49th prisoner exchange during the war.

Some of the Ukrainians had been held since 2022. Among them were some of those who fought in milestone battles for Ukraine's Snake Island and the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

WATCH |Ukrainians who were PoWs celebrate their release:

Ukrainians who were PoWs celebrate their release

8 months ago

Duration 0:44

A video released on social media by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shows men from Ukraine celebrating after Russia freed them as part of a prisoner exchange.

A video released by Ukrainian authorities showed returning prisoners draped in the country's blue and yellow flag filing off a bus, singing the national anthem and shouting the patriotic greeting "Glory to Ukraine."

Most, but not all, appeared to be in good health. One returnee shouted: "We are home! You didn't forget us!"

The Russian Ministry of Defence released a similar video of returning uniformed prisoners arriving in Belgorod in buses. "I'll be home in five hours, roughly speaking, that's going to be a joy," said one unnamed man.

A statement from the ministry said its released prisoners would undergo medical checks and treatment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was "truly a great day for Ukraine" and vowed to press on with further swaps facilitated by expanding what he called an "exchange fund" of captured Russian soldiers.

"The more Russians we capture, the more effective the negotiations regarding swaps will be," he said in his nightly video address.

Situation in border city 'remains tense'

Also Wednesday, Russia said it shot down 12 missiles fired at one of its southern regions bordering Ukraine, as Kyiv's forces seek to embarrass the Kremlin and puncture President Vladimir Putin's argument that life is going on as normal despite the fighting.

The situation in the border city of Belgorod, which came under two rounds of shelling on Wednesday morning, "remains tense," said regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov, writing on the Telegram messaging service.

WATCH | Russia vows to step up attacks on Ukraine:

Putin vows to intensify attacks on Ukraine

8 months ago

Duration 2:03

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to intensify attacks on Ukraine after some of the most intense aerial bombardments of the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Western allies about air defence and supplies.

"Air defence systems worked," he said, promising more details about possible damage after inspecting the area later in the day, part of a New Year's holiday week in Russia.

Ukraine fired two Tochka-U missiles and seven rockets at the region late Tuesday, followed by six Tochka-U missiles and six Vilkha rockets on Wednesday, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

The Soviet-built Tochka-U missile system has a range of up to 120 kilometresand a warhead that can carry cluster munitions. Ukraine has received some cluster munitions from the United States, but the Tochka-U and Vilkha can use their own cluster munitions.

The Russian side of the frontier has come under increasingly frequent attack in recent days. Throughout the war, border villages have sporadically been targeted by Ukrainian artillery fire, rockets, mortar shells and drones launched from thick forests where they are hard to detect.

Lately, as Russia fired missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities, Kyiv's troops have aimed at Belgorod's regional capital, which is about 100 kilometres north of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.

Belgorod, with a population of about 340,000, is the biggest Russian city near the border. It can be reached by relatively simple and movable weapons such as multiple rocket launchers.

On Saturday, shelling of Belgorod killed 25 people, including five children, in one of the deadliest strikes on Russian soil since Moscow's full-scale invasion. Another civilian was killed on Tuesday in a new salvo.

Hitting Belgorod and disrupting city life is a dramatic way for Ukraine to show it can strike back against Russia, whose military outnumbers and outguns Kyiv's forces.

The tactic appeared to be having some success, with signs the attacks are unsettling the public, political leaders and military observers.

Putin says Ukraine attacks creating 'uncertainty'

On Monday, Putin lashed out against the Belgorod attacks by Ukraine. "They want to intimidate us and create uncertainty within our country," he said, promising to step up retaliation.

Answering a question from a soldier who asked him about civilian casualties in Belgorod, Putin said: "I also feel a simmering anger."

Many Russian military bloggers have expressed regret about Moscow's withdrawal from the border area in September 2022, amid a swift counteroffensive by Kyiv, and they have argued that more territory must be seized to secure Belgorod and other border areas.

Russia describes Ukrainians as "terrorists" who indiscriminately target residential areas while insisting Moscow only aims at depots, arms factories and other military facilities even though there is ample evidence that Russia is hitting Ukrainian civilian targets.

Ukrainian officials rarely acknowledge responsibility for strikes on Russian territory.

Russian city temporarily loses power

In another Russian border region on Wednesday, the city of Zheleznogorsk was briefly cut off from the power grid after Ukrainian shelling, local officials said.

Authorities were forced to temporarily shut down an electricity substation in the city of 100,000 people in the Kursk region to repair the damage from an aerial attack, Kursk Gov. Roman Starovoit said on Telegram.

Residents were without power or heat, although electricity was restored in most of the city about two hours later, he said.

Russia has recently intensified its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, including using Kinzhal missiles, whichcan fly at 10 times the speed of sound. The Kremlin's forces appear to be targeting Ukraine's defence industry, the U.K. Defence Ministry said Wednesday.