Moscow: Russia on Monday welcomed home a young group of wounded prisoners of war (POWs) under the age of 25 in an exchange deal with Ukraine, as agreed on during talks in Istanbul last week. While Moscow and Kyiv have not disclosed the number of POWs exchanged between the two sides, the same number of captured soldiers have been swapped, according to a Russian defense ministry statement.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the Russian soldiers released by Kyiv are now in Belarus for medical and psychological aid before being repatriated to continue their treatment, the Russian military said. On the prisoner swap deal, the Kremlin said that Russia is prepared to honor the agreements with Ukraine on the exchange of POWs, which Moscow said reflected its commitment to protect its military servicemen.