The aggressor country Russia has begun to conduct prisoner of war exchanges with Ukraine much more frequently.
This was reported by URA-Inform with reference to ISW.
In particular, on October 8, Ukraine and Russia conducted the fourth prisoner of war exchange since the beginning of the operation in the Kursk region in August 2024. Then, each side returned home 95 of its fighters.
As noted by the Institute for the Study of War, the frequency of prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and Russia has increased significantly since the start of the Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk region on August 6. Since then, both sides have exchanged a total of 267 POWs in three separate exchanges.
While between January 1 and August 6, 2024, Russia and Ukraine conducted only three POW exchanges.
ISW continues to assess that the Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk region is likely to increasingly encourage Russia to engage in POW exchanges,» the analysts added.
It should be noted that Ukraine returned 95 defenders from Russian captivity on the night of October 19. Among those dismissed were 69 soldiers and sergeants and 26 officers. The peculiarity of this exchange is that many Ukrainians who received the so-called “sentences” of the judicial system of the aggressor country and “convicted” returned home: 28 – to long terms, and 20 – to life imprisonment.
Recall that earlier it was reported how the law on mobilization affected the rate of replenishment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Umerov's response.