Ukraine and Russia conduct another POW swap
KYIV: Ukraine and Russia conducted another POW swap - the fourth one in a week - the warring sides said on Saturday (Jun 14), under agreements reached in Istanbul earlier this month.
"We continue to take our people out of Russian captivity. This is the fourth exchange in a week," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
"In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements ... another group of Russian servicemen was returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime," Russia's defence ministry said on Telegram.
Kyiv also said it had received another batch of 1,200 unidentified bodies from Russia, which it said Russia claimed "belong to Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel," as part of the Istanbul agreements as well.
Photos published by Zelenskyy on Telegram showed men of various ages, mostly with shaved heads, wearing camouflage and draped in Ukrainian flags.
Some were injured, others disembarked from buses and hugged those welcoming them, or were seen calling someone by phone, sometimes covering their faces or smiling.
Moscow's defence ministry released its own video showing men in uniforms holding Russian flags, clapping and chanting "Russia, Russia", "glory to Russia" and "hooray", some raising their fists in the air.
The exchange came as Russia repeatedly rejected ceasefire calls and intensified its offensive along the front line, and especially in the northeastern Sumy region, where it seeks to establish a "buffer zone" to protect its Kursk region, previously partly occupied by Ukraine.
Zelenskyy claimed Russia's advance on Sumy was stopped, adding that Kyiv's forces have managed to retake one village.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
12 hours ago
- CNA
Putin warns no Russia recession 'under any circumstances'
SAINT PETERSBURG: President Vladimir Putin on Friday (Jun 20) urged officials not to let Russia fall into recession "under any circumstances", as some in his own government warned of a hit to economic growth. Economists have warned for months of a slowdown in the Russian economy, with the country posting its slowest quarterly expansion in two years in the first quarter of 2025. The Kremlin has said this is to be expected after two years of rapid expansion as it ramped up military expenditure to fund the Ukraine campaign, but officials, including the country's economy minister, have warned of pain ahead. "Some specialists and experts are pointing to the risks of stagnation and even a recession," Putin told attendees in an address at Russia's flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg. "This must not be allowed to happen under any circumstances." "We need to pursue a competent, well-thought-out budgetary, tax and monetary policy," he added. Moscow's economy grew in 2023 and 2024, despite the West's sweeping sanctions, with massive state spending on the military powering a robust expansion. But economists have long warned that heavy public investment in the defence industry is no longer enough to keep Russia's economy growing and does not reflect a real increase in productivity.
Straits Times
13 hours ago
- Straits Times
Russia and Ukraine swap more POWs in second exchange in two days
A still image from a video released by the Russian Defence Ministry shows what it said to be Russian service personnel captured by Ukrainian forces and released during the latest exchange of prisoners of war in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, as they board a bus at an unknown location in Belarus, in this image taken from handout footage released June 20, 2025. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS A still image from a video released by the Russian Defence Ministry shows what it said to be Russian service personnel captured by Ukrainian forces and released during the latest exchange of prisoners of war in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, as they pose with Russian flags in front of a bus at an unknown location in Belarus, in this image taken from handout footage released June 20, 2025. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS Russia and Ukraine swap more POWs in second exchange in two days MOSCOW/KYIV - Russia and Ukraine completed another round of prisoner exchanges on Friday, officials in both countries said, part of a recent agreement to swap POWs and the bodies of dead soldiers. Neither Russian nor Ukrainian officials specified how many people were involved in the exchange, the second in two days. Writing on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said most of his country's POWs had been held by Russia for more than two years, and had been captured across various parts of the sprawling front line. Russia's defence ministry said the Russian POWs included in the exchange were currently in Belarus, which shares borders with both warring countries. The two countries have carried out a series of swaps of captured troops and the remains of dead soldiers since renewing peace talks in Istanbul last month after a gap of more than three years. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
14 hours ago
- CNA
Russia signs investment deal with Myanmar, sees offshore oil and gas prospects
ST PETERSBURG :Russia signed an investment agreement with Myanmar on Friday that it said could open up new opportunities for Russian energy companies in the south Asian country. "We especially note the readiness of the Myanmar side to attract Russian companies to the development of offshore oil and gas fields," Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said after signing the agreement in St Petersburg with Kan Zaw, Myanmar's minister of investment and foreign economic relations. Russia said the deal would help accelerate projects including in Myanmar's Dawei special economic zone, where a 660 MW coal-fired thermal power plant is being developed. Russia has been building closer ties with Myanmar's military junta, which seized power in 2021 by toppling the elected government of Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The country is struggling with internal conflict, an economy in tatters, widespread hunger and a third of the nation's 55 million people in need of aid, according to the United Nations. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing met Russian President Vladimir Putin in March and signed an agreement on construction of a small-scale nuclear plant in Myanmar. A month earlier, the two countries signed a memorandum on construction of a port and oil refinery in the Dawei economic zone. Friday's agreement will also facilitate cooperation in areas including transport infrastructure, metallurgy, agriculture and telecommunications, the Russian government said.
