Ukraine and Russia carried out the largest exchange of prisoners since the beginning of the war. Moscow received 144 soldiers taken prisoner by Ukrainian troops. The same number of captured Ukrainians were repatriated to Kyiv. Among the liberated are soldiers of the Azov regiment, seriously wounded in the battle near Mariupol.
Images released by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry show that nearly all of the 144 POWs released by Russia are seriously injured. They received fractures, amputations, gunshot or shrapnel wounds. Most of all fought in Mariupol.
It is in the Donbass and the last urban bastion of Ukrainian resistance in the east of the country that Russian troops are currently concentrating their offensive. Lisichansk continues to be heavily bombed.
Analysts are already predicting that the conflict will drag on as more Western weapons appear in Ukraine.
Earlier this week, London published photos of Ukrainian soldiers with British military instructors.
On British soil, they learn how to handle the L-119 cannon. They are also being trained to handle the complexities of long-range multiple launch rocket systems capable of hitting targets at a distance of 80 kilometers.
After the United States, and with over €1 billion worth of weapons delivered or pledged, the UK is currently the largest donor of military aid to Ukraine.
