Officers, soldiers, civilians
Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners
4/14/2022 3:53 p.m
For the fourth time, Russia and Ukraine have released prisoners from the other side. Kyiv reports that 30 people have been released, including officers, soldiers and civilians. A released pilot reports being forced to take part in propaganda videos.
According to Kiev, 30 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released in another prisoner exchange with Russia. “Five officers and 17 military personnel were exchanged. Eight civilians, including a woman, were also released,” said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
The Ministry of Defense in Kyiv had previously announced that two pilots captured by Russian soldiers in the Chernihiv region in early March had been released. The ministry did not provide any further details.
It is not yet clear whether the pilots were part of the prisoner swap announced by Wereshchuk. According to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, the pilots were initially held at various locations before being taken to the Kursk region of southern Russia. They were detained there along with eight other Ukrainian soldiers. No information was available about their whereabouts.
Fourth prisoner exchange
After his release, one of the pilots said he was forced to make “propaganda videos” while he was in captivity, the ministry said. “If we refused, they threatened to stop treating our comrades’ wounds.” According to Deputy Prime Minister Vereshchuk, Ukraine and Russia have exchanged prisoners four times since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered Moscow on Wednesday night to exchange the pro-Russian businessman Viktor Medvedchuk, who had been captured in Ukraine, for Ukrainian prisoners of war. The Kremlin refused. The businessman, who is considered a close confidante of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has “nothing to do with the special military operation,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who – as is customary on the Russian side – avoided the term war.