Ukraine working on exchange deal to repatriate 1,200 prisoners, Zelensky says – National
Ukraine is working to resume prisoner exchanges with Russia, which could bring home 1,200 Ukrainian prisoners, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, a day after his national security chief announced progress in negotiations.
“We are counting on the resumption of exchanges of prisoners of war,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
“Many meetings, negotiations and calls are currently taking place to ensure this.”
Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Saturday that he had held consultations mediated by Turkey and the United Arab Emirates on resuming trade. He said the parties agreed to activate prisoner exchange deals negotiated in Istanbul to free 1,200 Ukrainians. Moscow had no immediate comment.
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The Istanbul Accords refer to prisoner exchange protocols established with Turkish mediation in 2022, which set rules for large, coordinated exchanges. Since then, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged thousands of prisoners, although the exchanges remain sporadic.
Umerov said technical consultations would be held soon to finalize procedural and organizational details, expressing hope that returning Ukrainians will be able to “celebrate the New Year and Christmas holidays at home – at the family table and next to their loved ones.”
Separately, energy infrastructure was damaged by Russian drone strikes overnight on Sunday in Ukraine’s Odessa region, Ukraine’s emergency service said. A solar power plant was among the damaged sites.
Ukraine is desperately trying to fend off relentless Russian air attacks that have caused power outages across the country as winter approaches.
The combined missile and drone strikes on the power grid coincided with Ukraine’s efforts to curb the Russian advance on the battlefield aimed at capturing the eastern stronghold of Pokrovsk.
Russia fired a total of 176 drones and one missile overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Sunday, adding that Ukrainian forces had shot down or neutralized 139 drones. On the front lines, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday its forces had captured two settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine.
The Russian army, more numerous and better equipped, intensified its attacks, putting a strain on the numerically disadvantaged Ukrainian army. Ukrainian officials said in September that the front line had expanded to nearly 1,250 kilometers.
However, Russia paid a high price in casualties and armor for its war of attrition, and Ukraine limited its gains on the battlefield.
Ukrainian forces struck a major oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region, as well as a warehouse storing drones for the elite Rubicon drone unit in Russia’s partially occupied Donetsk region, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Sunday. Russian authorities did not immediately confirm the attacks.
