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A senior Ukrainian official said over the weekend that 130 Ukrainian prisoners of war were released in a prisoner exchange with Russia. The prisoner exchange took place as they celebrated Orthodox Easter.
In a post on the Telegram messaging platform Sunday, the chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Andriy Yermak said that 130 Ukrainians were released and returned home in light of Orthodox Easter. Yermak said that prisoner exchanges between the two countries have been taking place in recent days. It remains to be seen how many Russian prisoners were released and returned.
Yermak said the Ukrainians that were released included border guards, the military, national guard members, and sailors and employees of the state border guard. The latest exchange was the second prisoner swap last week. Russia and Ukraine said Monday last week that they made a major prisoner exchange for 106 Russian prisoners for 100 Ukrainians.
Kyiv said Friday last week that they were able to retrieve the bodies of 82 of its forces in Russian-occupied territories.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian military reported the “bloody battles unprecedented in recent decades” in the key eastern city of Bakhmut, with the death toll from a Russian attack in Sloviansk climbing up to 11. The report by the Ukrainian military comes amidst claims by the Russian defense ministry and the private Wagner mercenary group that they claimed two more areas of Bakhmut.
“Bloody battles unprecedented in recent decades are taking place in the middle of the city’s urban area,” said Ukrainian eastern military command spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi. “Our soldiers are doing everything in bloody and fierce battles to grind down combat capability and break its morale. Every day, in every corner of this city, they are successfully doing so.”
Meanwhile, the Polish government announced that it would be temporarily suspending imports of Ukrainian grain and other foodstuffs to address the growing criticism of Polish farmers, who said they were losing money to Ukrainian grain on the market. The leader of the governing party in Poland, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said that the Polish countryside is experiencing a “moment of crisis” and that while Poland supports Ukraine, it was forced to act to protect its own farmers.
