KYIV: Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 100 prisoners of war from each side in the nearly two-year-old war, with the United Arab Emirates acting as an intermediary, both countries said on Thursday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, in a post on the Telegram messaging app, provided few details of the exchange, but said returning soldiers would undergo medical examinations in Moscow.
It noted the UAE’s “humanitarian mediation,” as did the Ukrainian body overseeing exchanges of POWs.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, writing on Telegram, said the majority of those brought home had taken part in the three-month defense of the Sea of Azov port of Mariupol, eventually captured by Russian forces in May 2022.
Pictures alongside the post showed servicemen draped in the blue and yellow national flag, embracing and speaking on mobile telephones.
Ukraine’s Coordinating Committee on Dealing with Prisoners of War said 28 of the returning servicemen were injured or ill.
It said 84 had taken part in the defense of Mariupol, with the others serving in other parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, partly occupied by Russian forces.
Russia, Ukraine swap 100 prisoners each
https://arab.news/ne34m
Russia, Ukraine swap 100 prisoners each
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said returning soldiers would undergo medical examinations in Moscow
- Ukraine’s Coordinating Committee on Dealing with Prisoners of War said 28 of the returning servicemen were injured or ill
UK police charge two men with belonging to Hezbollah, attending terrorism training
- Annis Makki is charged with attending a terrorist training camp at the Birket Jabbour
- Mohamed Hadi is also accused of belonging to Hezbollah and attending a training camp in Baffliyeh
ONDON: British police said on Tuesday they had charged two men with belonging to the banned Iran-backed group Hezbollah and attending terrorism training camps in Lebanon.
The men were arrested at their home addresses in London in April and rearrested last week when they were subsequently charged with a total of nine terrorism offenses.
“These arrests and charges follow a painstaking investigation by detectives of Counter Terrorism Policing London, who have worked closely with a number of overseas law enforcement colleagues,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of London’s Counter Terrorism Policing.
“I want to reassure the public that I do not assess there is an ongoing threat to the wider public as a result of the activities of these two individuals.”
Annis Makki, 40, is charged with attending a terrorist training camp at the Birket Jabbour air base in Lebanon in 2021, being involved in the preparation of terrorist acts, being a member of Hezbollah, and expressing support both for Hezbollah and the banned militant group Hamas.
Mohamed Hadi, 33, is also accused of belonging to Hezbollah and attending a training camp in Baffliyeh in south Lebanon in 2015 and at the Birket Jabbour air base in 2021.
Both men are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ court later on Tuesday.
