Russia, Ukraine exchange 150 prisoners after UAE-brokered deal

Russia released 75 Ukrainian detainees that included four civilians, according to an official statement from Kyiv. In return, Ukraine released 75 Russian detainees, it was confirmed.

This is the first prisoner exchange in four months between the sides at a formal state of war with one another since February 2022.

The Russian Defence Ministry announced that Ukraine gave up 75 individuals as part of an agreement mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

"After a long pause, another prisoner swap took place: 75 defenders and civilians were released from the enemy’s captivity," Ukraine’s Coordinating Committee on Dealing with Prisoners of War said.

Handout photos released on international news agencies showed servicemen wearing blue and yellow national flags that were issued along with a statement from the committee.

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Nineteen defenders of Snake Island, a small rocky outcrop in the Black Sea that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the early days of the conflict when Ukrainian guards refused to surrender to Russian forces, were reportedly brought back by Ukrainian officials.

Russia has turned over the bodies of 212 Ukrainian defenders as part of the deal.

On the Russian side, the freed Russian soldiers will be taken to Moscow by military transport aircraft of the Russian aerospace forces, and would receive medical treatment and rehabilitation in the defense ministry's medical facilities, the ministry added.

Russia accuses US, NATO of provocation

Meanwhile, Russia accused NATO and the United States of "provoking" tensions after Washington and Berlin became the latest allies to let Kyiv's military use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia.

A Berlin spokesperson said Germany was convinced Ukraine had the right to defend itself from Russia, especially from cross-border attacks on its second largest city Kharkiv.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the decision would help protect civilians living in villages close to the Russian border.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said NATO countries, especially the US and several European countries, had "entered a new round of escalating tension and they are doing this deliberately", TASS news agency reported.

"They are in every possible way provoking Ukraine to continue this senseless war."

(With inputs from agencies)