For the first time in months, Russia and Ukraine are exchanging prisoners

Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war on Friday for the first time in more than three months. Both sides allowed 75 people to return to their home countries.

Most of them were soldiers, but there were also some civilians. Some of them had been imprisoned for more than two years. Ukrainian prisoners of war told the American news agency AP that they were tortured with electricity in Russia. Many prisoners also looked emaciated.

Snake Island

Among the released Ukrainians, according to the authorities in Kyiv, were also nineteen soldiers stationed on Snake Island. That tiny island in the Black Sea became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the early days of the Russian invasion. When the Russians asked the Ukrainians to surrender, they received a short but sharp answer: “Get the hell out of here.”

The prisoner swap in the eastern Ukrainian province of Sumy was the fourth this year and was negotiated by the United Arab Emirates. Ukraine says Russia has now released 3,210 prisoners of war.

Earlier in the day, both countries also exchanged the bodies of fallen soldiers: Ukraine gave 212 bodies to Russia and received 45 in return.

The exchanged prisoners of war call family after their release: