Russia and Ukraine have each published 390 prisoners on Friday and said they would release more in the coming days, in what should be the greatest exchange of war prisoners so far.
The agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each was the only concrete step towards peace to emerge last week from two hours of talks in Istanbul, the first direct talks between the sides at war in more than three years.
The Russian Defense Ministry said each party released 270 soldiers and 120 civilians on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the total of 390 each and said that the more released on Saturday and Sunday.
Earlier, the Ukrainian authorities told journalists to meet in a place in the northern region of Chernihiv in anticipation that some liberated prisoners could be brought there.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides were injured or killed in the most deadly war in Europe since the Second World War, although none of the parties has published specific personalities. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have also died while Russian forces have beaten up and bombed Ukrainian cities.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that liberated people included civilians captured in the Kursk Russian region in a Ukrainian foray that began last year.
The Russian soldiers released and civilians were in Bélarus, who neighbors of Ukraine, and receiving psychological and medical assistance before being transferred to Russia for new care, he said.
Mortal attack in Odesa
While US President Donald Trump said he was losing patience with the two countries while the United States is looking for war, in general, he has spent American politics to support Ukraine with significant military and humanitarian aid to accept part of the Russian war story.
Trump said he could tighten the sanctions against Moscow if it blocked peace, but after talking with Putin on Monday, there was no immediate action, even though the European Union published his 17th pack of sanctions against Russia.
Referring to the exchange of prisoners earlier, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Congratulations to the two parties for this negotiation. This could lead to something big ???”
Moscow says that she is ready for the ceasefire for talks while fighting continues, and wants to discuss what he calls the “deep causes” of the war, including his Ukraine Cedeks requests gives more territory, and be disarmed and prohibited from military alliances with the West. Kyiv says that it is equivalent to going and leaving him defenseless in the face of the future Russian attacks.
Meanwhile, the fighting continued.
The emblematic Canadian actor Dave Thomas, better known as half of Bob and Doug McKenzie, recently spent time in Ukraine and was surprised by the way normal life continued – with a feeling of quiet resistance. McKenzie spoke to Ian Hanomans about the National experience there and why he always appreciated his Canadian passport.
Russia, which occupies about a fifth of Ukraine, said on Friday that it has taken care of a regulation called Rakivka in the northeast region of Kharkiv in Ukraine.
The governor of the Ukraine Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said Russia had struck port infrastructure there with two missiles on Friday afternoon, killing a person and injured eight.
