Ukrainian prisoners of war are seen after swap, at an unknown location, Ukraine, in this handout picture released 16 April 2023;
Credit: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War/Handout via Reuters
KYIV (Reuters) - 130 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released and returned home in a "great Easter exchange", a senior Ukrainian presidential official said on Sunday 16 April 2023, the day of Orthodox Easter.
Ukrainian and Russian forces have held regular prisoner exchanges during Moscow's invasion, now in its fourteenth month. Russia holds swathes of territory in Ukraine's east and south.
"We are bringing back 130 of our people. It [the exchange] has been taking place in several stages over the past few days," President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on the Telegram messaging app.
It was not clear how many Russians were sent back the other way.
Yermak said those returning home included military, border guards, national guard members, sailors and employees of the state border guard.
The exchange was the second large prisoner swap in the past week. On Monday 10 April 2023, Russia and Ukraine said they carried out a major prisoner swap with 106 Russian prisoners of war being freed in exchange for 100 Ukrainians.
On Friday 14 April 2023, Ukraine said it had also retrieved the bodies of 82 of its soldiers from Russian-controlled territory.
