Russia and Ukraine have conducted another prisoner swap brokered by the United Arab Emirates, freeing hundreds of prisoners of war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed the exchange in a post on Telegram announcing that 189 Ukrainians returned home as a result of the action.
“These are the...defenders of Azovstal and Mariupol, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Zmiiniy Island, from different directions of the front,” Zelenskiy said. “Among them are soldiers, sergeants, officers.”
Two civilians who were captured in Mariupol also were among those released, Zelenskiy said. In the post, which included photos of smiling soldiers seated on a bus, he added that Ukraine continues working to free all those held in Russian captivity.
The Russian Defense Ministry also announced the prisoner exchange, saying the number released was 150 on each side. There was no explanation for the discrepancy.
"On 30 December, as a result of the negotiation process, 150 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In return, 150 Ukrainian army prisoners of war were handed over," a ministry statement said.
The statement said the 150 Russian soldiers had been evacuated to Belarus, where they were receiving medical and psychological assistance and were given the opportunity to contact their relatives.
"All released servicemen will be delivered to the Russian Federation for treatment and rehabilitation in medical institutions of the Russian Ministry of Defense,” the statement added, noting the U.A.E. assistance in providing humanitarian efforts during the return of the POWs.
Russia and Ukraine have conducted 59 POW exchanges since the beginning of the full-scale war.
Fighting on December 30 included 104 combat clashes at the front on December 30 through 4:00 p.m. local time, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian military. More than half of the battles took place in the areas around Pokrovsk, Kurakhiv, and Vremovskiy.
In the Russian-occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, the Kremlin-installed governor said a Ukrainian strike hit a hospital, killing a doctor and wounding another.
Russian-installed Governor Vladimir Saldo accused Ukraine's Western military backers of participating in the attack, which occurred in the Russian-held town of Oleshkiy.
Deputy chief physician Vasily Borisov was killed in the attack, while chief physician Vladimir Kharlan was injured by shrapnel, Saldo said on Telegram.
Images published by Saldo showed the facade of a building with its windows blown out, while another showed a room cluttered with damaged furniture.
Kyiv did not immediately comment but denies targeting civilians in Russian-held areas.
