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5 February, 21:41
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Russia, Ukraine swap more prisoners as peace talks with no breakthrough

Russia and Ukraine have held another round of exchange of prisoners of war and civilians after the US-brokered trilateral peace negotiations held in Abu Dhabi did not result in any result to end the ongoing war.

A total of 157 prisoners of war from each side returned home on Thursday in the first such exchange in four months. Among the returned Ukrainians are seven civilians. In a post on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote that the swap of prisoners "took place after a long pause" - referring to the previous such swap last October. "We are returning our people home - 157 Ukrainians. Soldiers of the Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Service. And civilians are also returning with the defenders," Zelenskiy said, reiterating his earlier statement that Kyiv would do everything to bring back every single Ukrainian still in Russian captivity. Ukrainians officials said 139 had been in Russian captivity since 2022.

Russia also confirmed the return of its prisoners of war, with the Defence Ministry stating that among the returned Russians were three civilians “illegally held” by Ukraine. They were residents of the border Kursk region, parts of which were captured by Ukraine during its large-scale surprise incursion in 2024-25. Among the returned Russian PoWs are 20 Chechen fighters, head of Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov announced. Kadyrov noted that work was under to return the prisoners. According to the Ukrainian project ‘I Want to Live’, all Chechens returned from the Ukrainian captivity, served in the Akhmat unit, the Chechnya-based detachments of Russia’s National guard under the Russian Defence Ministry.

The two-round trilateral peace talks held between Russia, Russian and the US in Abu Dhabi in recent weeks are part of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the nearly four-year-war in Ukraine. The negotiations had been led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Despite all three sides hailing the talks, the negotiations in Abu Dhabi did not yield any significant results towards ending the war.