Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners of war

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had exchanged 150 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for the same number of Russian soldiers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 189 Ukrainians had returned home.

He added that among those released were “the defenders of Azovstal and Mariupol”, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and Snake Island.

Outside a hospital in northern Ukraine, anxious relatives were wrapped up against the bitter winter cold, waiting for their loved ones.

A woman, Alina, was waiting for her husband Alexander. He was captured while defending the city of Mariupol in 2022.

“I have so many emotions,” she said, tears streaming down her face, “It's been so hard. I just want to see it.”

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said the newly freed Russian soldiers were in Russia's ally Belarus and had been given medical care and the opportunity to be reunited with their families.

In a video released by Russia's human rights commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova, soldiers can be seen gathered in front of the trainers in military and winter clothing.

“Very soon, our boys will hug their families and friends and celebrate the New Year on home soil,” she said in the accompanying message.

It was the 59th prisoner exchange since the start of the full-scale invasion and one of the largest to date.

On the Ukrainian side, among those released are soldiers, border guards, National Guard and Navy personnel. Many had been held captive for more than two and a half years, and Ukrainian authorities said some had returned with serious illnesses and injuries.

For some families, the agonizing uncertainty is over. But thousands more Ukrainians remain captive in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine.

Officials in Kiev told the BBC that prisoner exchange negotiations had become more difficult in recent months – since Russian forces began making significant advances on the battlefield.

Ukraine has not released the number of prisoners of war held by Russia, but the total is believed to exceed 8,000.

Denis Prokopenko, commander of Ukraine's 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade, which defended the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol before it was captured by Russian forces, told X that 11 men from the brigade were returned in the exchange.

Prokopenko was released in a prisoner exchange in 2022.

Zelensky said two civilians captured in Mariupol were also among those released.

“We are working to free everyone from Russian captivity. This is our goal. We do not forget anyone,” Zelensky said. He posted photos showing some of the exchanged men sitting on a bus and holding up yellow and blue Ukrainian flags.

In May 2022 Russia declared victory after a months-long battle to conquer the the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupolas the last fighters defending the Azovstal steel plant surrendered.

Russian troops seized Chernobyl in the northwest of the country at the start of their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but later returned control of the headquarters to its officials.

Snake Island in the Black Sea was also captured in 2022 and Ukrainian soldiers were captured but later exchanged for Russian prisoners.