55 Russian troops freed in prisoner swap with Ukraine, Moscow suggests – Nationwide

Russia’s defence ministry explained on Thursday that 55 of its servicemen had been returned to Russia in the major prisoner exchange offer with Ukraine due to the fact the start out of the war.

In its each day briefing, the ministry stated the fighters – from Russia’s armed forces and its proxies in the Russian-backed separatist regions of jap Ukraine – had been transported to Russia by a military aircraft and were undergoing medical checks.

The shock swap concerned pretty much 300 people today, together with 10 foreigners and Ukrainian commanders who had led a extended protection of the port city of Mariupol.

The Russian-mounted separatist head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) claimed that professional-Kremlin Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk experienced been freed as section of the offer.

Medvedchuk, a particular close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, headed a banned professional-Russian celebration in Ukraine and was facing treason rates.

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The swap was brokered by Saudi Arabia and will come just just before referendums in sections of Ukraine occupied by Russia that are very likely to pave the wave for Russia to formally declare the annexation of a lot more swathes of its neighbour.