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The Ukrainian authorities reported this Saturday, February 4, that 116 of their soldiers who were being held by Russian troops were released. The Kremlin, for its part, indicated that 63 of its men returned to their country, as a result of the most recent exchange of detainees mediated by the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, the conflict is intensifying and Moscow has claimed advances in Kharkiv and Donetsk, in the east of the invaded nation, in the last few hours.
Dozens of Ukrainians and Russians captured in the framework of the conflict were released on February 4.
The main adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency, Andriy Yermak, reported that 116 soldiers from his country returned to freedom. Among them are soldiers detained by Moscow after resisting in the months-long confrontation in Mariupol, a port city in the southeast of the country and which was finally captured by Russian troops in April 2022.
kyiv also said the men include fighters who have fought during the ongoing battles for Kherson in the south and Bakhmut in the east.
“Another great POW exchange. We managed to recover 116 of our people. These are the defenders of Mariupol, the partisans of Kherson, the fighters from the vicinity of Bakhmut and other of our heroes,” Yermak said along with photos and videos of dozens of uniformed men on a bus and with Ukrainian flags.
Another big POWs swap. We managed to get back 116 of our people. Those are the defenders of Mariupol, Kherson partisans, snipers from Bakhmut vicinities, and other heroes of ours. pic.twitter.com/DQFtjPC4E6
—Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) February 4, 2023
In addition, the British newspaper ‘The Sun’ reported that the bodies of two UK volunteers who fought on the Ukrainian side were returned by Russia. They are Christopher Parry, 28, and Andrew Bagshaw, 48.
Both had disappeared on January 6 when they tried to evacuate civilians near Soledar, east of Bakhmut, where some of the most recounted clashes in recent months have been recorded and a town that Russia claims to have taken control of.
Meanwhile, Kremlin Defense Ministry officials announced that 63 Russian soldiers had returned home from Ukrainian territory, calling some of them “special category” prisoners.
Moscow stressed that the most recent exchange of captured men occurred after mediation by the United Arab Emirates.
Russia claims gains in Kharkiv and Donetsk
After months of strong setbacks on the ground, Moscow troops assured this Saturday that they had expelled Ukrainian units from territories in the east of the country.
“As a result of the offensive actions of the units of the ‘Zapadni’ (Western) group, the enemy was expelled from the western vicinity of the town of Dvurechoe, in the Kharkiv region,” Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
In addition, according to Moscow, its military killed around 30 kyiv soldiers during an attack on the 92 brigade of the Ukrainian Army, in the towns of Krojmalne and Berestove.
“More than 30 Ukrainian soldiers, two armored vehicles and three cars were annihilated,” Konahsenkov remarked.
In the last 24 hours, at least three civilians have died in Ukraine amid attacks by Kremlin men in nine regions, in the south, north and east of the nation, the regional governors detailed on local television.
In Donetsk, two people lost their lives and another 14 were injured by Russian bombings and missile attacks, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko specified this Saturday.
In the Black Sea port of Odessa and surrounding areas, residents were left in the dark by a large-scale grid failure, a product of Moscow assaults, according to the country’s electricity utility operator, Ukrenergo.
With Reuters, AP and local media
