Russia and Ukraine on Friday swapped 193 captured soldiers each, the second exchange this month in one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv.

The two countries have exchanged thousands of POWs throughout the four-year war – with the swaps often the only result of otherwise stalled talks on ending the conflict.

"193 Ukrainian warriors are returning home as part of a prisoner exchange," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.

"We remember each and every one and continue working every day to bring our people home from Russian captivity," he added.

The Russian defence ministry also confirmed the swap had taken place, adding that its troops were undergoing medical checks in Belarus, a Moscow-allied country bordering Ukraine.

"The United Arab Emirates and the United States provided humanitarian mediation efforts to facilitate the return of the Russian servicemen from captivity," Russia said.

US-led talks aimed at ending the four-year conflict were already stalled before the war in the Middle East effectively put them on ice. (AFP)



Edited by Robert Kemp