Russia and Ukraine swap scores of POWs despite tensions over plane crash last week • FRANCE 24

207 Ukrainian prisoners were released today equivalent number of Russians approximately and that is approximately the same number as were due to be released according to Ukrainian Military Intelligence in the swap that was planned for just a week ago just before a Russian military plane crashed near belgrod prompting the Russians to claim

That 65 Ukrainian prisoners of War who were due to be swapped were on board and to blame the ukrainians for shooting down the plane the Russians at that point said that there could be no more prisoner swaps for the foreseeable future so today’s news certainly comes

As a surprise a very welcome one for the families of those who’ve been released and also for other people whose um loved ones are missing or in detention because every time that people are released they can provide information about other people who may be detained I spoke a

Little earlier to Valentina vova who was in a report I made recently about families of people in detention or who are missing sadly her brother was not released today um but um another member of the association who I also met did find her brother among those released

Today it’s always a surprise that only told once the release happens um and it was even more of a surprise Valentina told me today because she had really been resigned to the idea that it would be a very long time before the next prisoner swap Could Happen she told me

Though that she didn’t have any information as to what persuaded the Russians to change their mind or how this um unexpected swap was achieved she could only say that she had nothing but praise for the Ukrainian authorities involved the Ukrainian authorities who have said that among those released

Today there is no one who name was on the list of the 65 people that Russia alleges were on the plane that crashed that list published by Margarita simonan of Russia today there’s still a lot of skepticism here in Ukraine as to whether those people really were on the plane at

All as Russia has refused to hand over any bodies and um published only really scant photographic evidence

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged about 200 prisoners of war each, the countries said Wednesday, despite tensions stemming from last week’s crash of a military transport plane that Moscow claimed was carrying Ukrainian POWs and was shot down by Kyiv’s forces. After the Jan. 24 crash of the Il-76 plane in Russia’s Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine, some Russian officials had publicly questioned the possibility of future POW swaps. FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg reports from Kyiv, Ukraine.
#Russia #Ukraine #POW

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8 comments

  4. When Russia declares something so quickly and on all levels, it points out to a premeditated operation. Otherwise, they are as mute as a minnows. All planes previously shot down if were not confirmed by Russia for several days they were never confirmed at all. So in this particular case they it's most likely were downing this aircraft themselves up and quickly invented the spurious story.

  7. It's funny how the war ended as soon as Iran fired the first shot at the US to start WWIII. No Russia-Ukraine peace talks, no surrenders— just send each others' POWs home.
    It was a fake war all along to get US taxpayer money. Zelenskyy and Putin are laughing all the way to the bank.

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