MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s defence ministry said Ukraine had returned 101 prisoners of war on Thursday from territory controlled by Kyiv following talks.
“Aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces will deliver the released servicemen to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation in medical institutions of the Russian Defence Ministry,” it said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff said 100 troops and one civilian had been returned.
Nearly all had been defending the besieged southern city of Mariupol before it fell to Russian forces, Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.
Earlier this month, Zelenskiy said that since the start of the conflict last February, Ukraine had secured the release of 1,762 men and women from Russian captivity.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Additional reporting by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Alison Williams and Hugh Lawson)
