Ukraine secures release of more than 100 soldiers in swap with Russia

Kyiv has secured the release of more than 100 of its captured soldiers in a prisoner exchange with Russia on Thursday (May 25), said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff. Meanwhile, Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said they would send back the bodies of two United States and Turkey citizens from Ukraine.

Speaking about the conflict, US Army General Mark Milley said Russia will not achieve military victory in Ukraine but also warned Kyiv that it is unlikely to force out all of Moscow’s troops anytime soon.

Russia to release over 100 Ukrainian soldiers: Kyiv

The Ukrainian president Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said that Kyiv has secured the release of 106 soldiers, of whom eight were captured fighting in the city of Bakhmut, which has witnessed some of the bloodiest battles of the conflict. “Every one of them is a hero of our state,” said Yermak.

He added, “Many of the ones we are returning from captivity were considered missing. The relatives of these people have gone through a difficult time.”

While, Russia’s human rights ombudsman, Tatiana Moskalkova, confirmed that Russia’s mercenary group Wagner which earlier Thursday began withdrawing from Bakhmut, took part in an exchange of fighters, no further details were given.

According to Ukrainian officials, so far, at least 2,430 Ukrainians have been freed in prisoner swaps out of which nearly 140 were civilians.

Wagner send back bodies of US, Turkish citizens

The head of the Wagner group Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Thursday, said that theyare sending back the bodies of a US citizen who was killed in fighting in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and the body of a Turkish citizen who was found dead in a building that was blown up.

“We are returning the body of an American and the body of a citizen of Turkey along with prisoners,” said Prigozhin. The announcement was made by him in a video clip which showed two wooden coffins one of which was draped with the US flag and the other with the flag of Turkey.

Prigozhin said that the US citizen died while fighting in some part of Bakhmut which is referred to as the “nest.” According to Wagner, the American citizen was Nicholas Maimer, a former US special forces soldier.

While the Turkish citizen was found dead along with a Turkish woman in a building supposedly blown by Ukrainian forces, said the head of the Wagner group. However, the Turkish woman’s body could not be recovered, said Prigozhin.

US top officer about Russia-Ukraine

Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, on Thursday, Milley said, “This war, militarily, is not going to be won by Russia. It’s just not.” The press conference took place after a virtual meeting of dozens of countries that support Ukraine.

He also said that while Moscow’s original strategic objectives which supposedly included overthrowing the government in Kyiv, “are not achievable militarily, they’re not going to be done,” said the US army general.

While Kyiv’s objective of recapturing all of its territory is also unlikely, said the US officer, adding that there are hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers across Ukraine, at the time so it will not happen “in the near term”.

“That means fighting is going to continue, it's going to be bloody, it's going to be hard. And at some point, both sides will either negotiate a settlement or they'll come to a military conclusion.”

This comes amid talks that the war in Ukraine is set to go on for a while considering neither countries are in a position to secure a clear-cut victory and there are no ongoing peace talks or negotiations.

(With inputs from agencies)

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