Ukraine exchanged over 100 people with Russia this week as the country celebrated its third Independence Day since the invasion began.
The two nations exchanged an equal number of prisoners on Saturday – 115 soldiers for 115 soldiers. It was the 55th prisoner exchange of its kind in the ongoing conflict.
“Another 115 of our defenders returned home today. These are warriors from the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy and the State Border Guard Service,” Zelensky said in a statement on the exchange. “We remember all of them. We are looking for them and are making every effort to bring them all back.”
Russia tries to downplay invasion of Ukraine as ‘new normal’ while Putin fails to end war on home soil: report
Ukrainian prisoners of war return home after varying lengths of imprisonment in Russia. (Office of the President of Ukraine)
The agreement was reached through negotiations mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
Zelensky praised the soldiers responsible for capturing Russian fighters, saying such battlefield successes gave the much smaller country an advantage in negotiations for the return of its own men.
“I am grateful to every unit that replenishes our exchange fund. This helps advance the release of our military personnel and civilians from Russian captivity,” Zelensky said. “I thank our team and our partners, the United Arab Emirates, for bringing our people home.”
UKRAINE TARGETS RUSSIAN BRIDGES IN ITS COUNTER-OFFENSIVE AGAINST MOSCOW IN KURSK
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference marking the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine’s independence in Kyiv. On August 24, Ukraine celebrates its declaration of independence from the USSR in 1991. For security reasons, no large mass events took place in Kyiv on that day, except for some celebratory activities. (Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Kremlin officials are trying to downplay Ukraine’s invasion of the Kursk region after Russian President Vladimir Putin failed for the second week to stop Kyiv’s advance on his home territory, according to a report by the independent Russian news channel Meduza.
The report, which first emerged last week, claims that Kremlin sources have begun pressuring state-funded media agencies to downplay the severity of the Ukrainian invasion and launch a propaganda campaign to encourage Russians to accept the “new normal.”
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People walk among the graves at the Field of Mars cemetery in Lviv to commemorate the fallen soldiers during the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the occasion of Ukrainian Independence Day. (IVAN STANISLAVSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital was unable to independently verify the report, which comes as Ukraine continues to boast that it has captured more than 2,260 square kilometers of the Kursk coast, including the town of Sudhza, as well as nearly 100 Russian villages, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Tuesday.
Caitlin McFall of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
