Russia and Ukraine introduced the trade of lots of of prisoners of conflict on Wednesday, resuming the fastidiously choreographed buying and selling of captives solely every week after Moscow accused Kyiv of taking pictures down a Russian navy transport aircraft that it stated was carrying dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of conflict on their strategy to be exchanged.
The reason for the crash, which occurred in Russia’s Belgorod area close to the border with Ukraine final week, stays unknown. Ukrainian officers have neither confirmed nor denied accountability, have referred to as for a world investigation and stated that the Russians had supplied no conclusive proof that prisoners had been on the flight.
After the crash, households of Ukrainian prisoners frightened publicly that the episode would possibly imperil one of many few diplomatic channels left between the 2 international locations, making it much less probably that they’d see their family members once more.
However the strategy of exchanging prisoners, whereas at instances slowed down, has endured even throughout essentially the most making an attempt moments of a conflict that has stretched on for almost two years.
The commerce on Wednesday was the fiftieth trade between the 2 nations because the conflict started, and greater than 3,000 Ukrainian troopers and civilians have returned house, in response to Ukrainian officers. Whereas Russia has not disclosed a complete quantity, not less than 1,200 troopers have been returned, in response to statements by the nation’s officers.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who introduced the commerce in a press release on social media, stated 207 troopers and civilians had been returned. The returnees vary in age from 20 to 61.
“We return finally,” Mr. Zelensky wrote within the assertion. “We keep in mind each captive.”
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Remedy of Prisoners of Conflict stated that 36 of the returned Ukrainians had “accidents or severe diseases.”
The Russian Ministry of Protection stated that 195 of its troopers had been returned and can be transferred for medical care. The ministry stated that an equal variety of Ukrainians had been returned. There was no quick clarification for the discrepancy between its figures and people introduced by Mr. Zelensky. It additionally famous the position of the United Arab Emirates in serving to dealer the deal.
The connection between Russia and the Emirates has grown nearer in recent times, with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia making a high-profile go to to the nation’s capital, Abu Dhabi, in December.
The trade, nevertheless, supplied no quick clues in regards to the thriller surrounding the downed Russian airplane or about whether or not Ukrainian prisoners had been onboard, as Russia claims.
The Ukrainian information media reported that not one of the individuals returned on Wednesday had been on a listing of 65 prisoners the Russians claimed had been killed within the crash.
Neither aspect has introduced proof in regards to the crash, whilst they’ve highlighted the incident as proof of the opposite aspect’s malign intent.
Talking at a gathering together with his supporters on Wednesday in Moscow, Mr. Putin stated that Russian investigators “had established it precisely” that the aircraft was shot down utilizing the American Patriot air protection system. Final week, he stated that he didn’t know whether or not the Ukrainians had intentionally shot down the aircraft understanding that their very own troopers had been onboard, however that it was nonetheless against the law.
Ukraine has been stepping up its assaults inside Russia and sometimes publicly acknowledging assaults on navy targets. After the aircraft crashed, the Ukrainians asserted a proper to shoot down Russian navy planes within the border area and stated that Russia had not knowledgeable them {that a} aircraft carrying prisoners can be flying within the space. However it has stopped wanting taking accountability for taking pictures down the aircraft. Russia has stated that Ukraine was knowledgeable in regards to the flight.
Ukrainian officers have stated it’s unusual {that a} week after the crash, Russia has not launched any visible proof of the our bodies of Ukrainian prisoners it claims had been killed within the crash.
Kyrylo Budanov, the pinnacle of Ukrainian navy intelligence, has stated that the Ukrainians shouldn’t have a full understanding of who was on the aircraft, however that the best way the Russians have dealt with the episode raised many questions.
“If it occurred as Russia claims, why did Russia conceal the our bodies for a number of days and why is it nonetheless hiding them?” he stated. “It ought to have proven them to the entire world: ‘Look, the Ukrainians are murderers.’ However there aren’t any our bodies — there may be nothing.”
Ivan Nechepurenko contributed reporting.
