Russia and Ukraine have completed a major prisoner exchange, marking one of the largest swaps since the start of the war. The deal was based on agreements made earlier in Istanbul.
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that another round of prisoner exchanges with Ukraine had been completed under agreements reached in Istanbul on 2 June.
The Russian soldiers are currently in neighbouring Belarus, receiving psychological and medical support. The Russian Defence Ministry published a video on Wednesday showing soldiers cheering as they boarded buses headed for home.
"All Russian servicemen will be transported to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation at medical facilities of the Russian Defense Ministry," it said.
In return, a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war was handed over to Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange, celebrating the return of more than a 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers on Wednesday. Many of them were seriously wounded and some were held for more than three years. He stressed the importance of ongoing exchanges and reiterated Ukraine’s call for peace.
"The warriors returning today defended Ukraine on various fronts. A significant number had been in captivity for more than three years. All of them will receive the necessary support and medical care," said Zelenskyy.
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Qarabağ FK is facing Ajax in a key Champions League league phase match at the Tofiq Bəhramov Stadium in Baku.
Uzbekistan will introduce a nationwide system to assess the resilience of officials and civil service candidates to corruption risks from 2026, according to a presidential decree adopted this week.
Military coups have reappeared across West Africa and the Sahel. Recent events in Guinea-Bissau and coup attempt in Benin add to a growing list of abrupt power shifts over the past five years.
Hate speech targeting Muslims and Christians in India surged by 74% in 2024, driven by election-season rhetoric and unrest in neighboring Bangladesh, according to a new report from the India Hate Lab, a Washington-based research organization.
Scores of demonstrators gathered outside the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo Tuesday (9 December) to protest against the awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Pressure is mounting between Venezuela and the United States as both nations emphasise military preparedness and strategic positioning.
Iran and Saudi Arabia reiterated their commitment to enhance ties following a joint meeting with China in Tehran on Tuesday to follow up on implementation of the 2023 Beijing Agreement which resulted in resumption of their diplomatic relations after eight years.
Tanzania's government warned on Monday that protests scheduled for Tuesday would be illegal and amounted to an attempted coup, as security forces were heavily deployed in major cities.
The world’s leading minds and voices will be honoured on Wednesday, 10 December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, as Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm and Oslo.
Qarabağ FK is facing Ajax in a key Champions League league phase match at the Tofiq Bəhramov Stadium in Baku.
Hungary’s move to secure guaranteed Russian gas transit through Türkiye has stabilised a key supply corridor, but the country’s continued reliance on Moscow raises questions.
Ukraine faces a narrowing diplomatic space as pressure builds around U.S. backed peace proposals, warning that the structure of the conflict may leave little room to avoid difficult territorial choices.
Democracies must be prepared to fight for freedom in order to survive, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado said on Wednesday, in a speech delivered by her daughter during a ceremony Machado could not attend.
The possibility of restricting social media access for children is a hot topic in the European Union and the United Kingdom, after Australia implemented a world-first ban for those under 16. Lawmakers have labelled the ban a “real-world test” of how far governments can go to protect young people.
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