UAE as a Mediator: Russia claims 63 POWs have been released from Ukrainian custody

Ukrainian officials stated that 116 of their soldiers captured by Russian troops were released. As a consequence of the most recent exchange of detainees brokered by the United Arab Emirates, 63 Russian men were returned to Russia, according to the Kremlin. Moscow has claimed advances in Kharkiv and Donetsk, in the east of the invaded nation, in the recent few hours as the battle escalates.

On February 4, dozens of Ukrainians and Russians kidnapped during the battle were released.

Andriy Yermak, the principal adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency, claimed that 116 Ukrainian servicemen had returned to freedom. Among them are soldiers held by Moscow for resisting during the months-long conflict in Mariupol, a port city in the southeast of the Ukraine that was taken by Russian forces in April 2022.

Kiev further reported that among the men are combatants who engaged in the continuing battles for Kherson in the south and Bakhmut in the east.

“Another fantastic exchange of prisoners of war. We were able to retrieve 116 of our people. These are the defenders of Mariupol, the partisans of Kherson, the warriors from the neighborhood of Bakhmut, and our other heroes,” Yermak stated with photographs and videos of dozens of soldiers in uniform and carrying Ukrainian flags.

In addition, the British publication ‘The Sun’ stated that Russia returned the bodies of two British volunteers who fought on the Ukrainian side. Christopher Parry, age 28, and Andrew Bagshaw, age 48.

Both had vanished on January 6 while evacuating residents near Soledar, east of Bakhmut, where some of the most reported skirmishes in recent months had occurred and where Russia claims to have gained control of the town.

In the meantime, authorities from the Defense Ministry of the Kremlin reported that 63 Russian servicemen had returned from Ukrainian territory, with some of them being classified as “special category captives.”

Moscow emphasized that the most recent swap of prisoners was facilitated by the United Arab Emirates.

UAE’s Mediation

After months of significant defeats on the battlefield, Russian forces confirmed on Saturday that they had ejected Ukrainian military from territory in the country’s east.

“As a consequence of the offensive efforts of the ‘Zapadni’ (Western) group, the enemy has been driven from the western outskirts of the town of Dvurechoe in the Kharkiv area,” stated Defense spokesperson Igor Konashenkov.

Near addition, according to Moscow, its forces killed around thirty Ukrainian soldiers during an attack on the 92nd brigade of the Ukrainian Army in Krojmalne and Berestove.

“More than thirty Ukrainian soldiers, two armored vehicles, and three automobiles were destroyed,” Konahsenkov stated.

In the last twenty-four hours, at least three citizens have been killed in Ukraine as a result of strikes by Kremlin operatives in nine districts in the country’s south, north, and east, according to regional television reports.

On Saturday, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said that two persons were killed and 14 others were injured in Donetsk due to Russian airstrikes and missile strikes.

Ukrenergo, the country’s energy service provider, reported that a large-scale grid failure in the Black Sea port of Odessa and its surrounding areas was the result of Moscow’s attacks.

The new mediation is the outcome of the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and the efforts of His Highness: the UAE interacts with the Ukrainian side in order to activate the searches that reveal the inmates, which led to the release.