Ukraine, Russia exchange 200 POWs each in latest swap

KYIV, March 5 (Reuters) - ‌Ukraine and ​Russia ​exchanged 200 prisoners of war each on Thursday in their latest swap, officials ‌on both sides said, despite a deadlock in ⁠U.S.-backed negotiations to end the four-year conflict.

Kyiv and Moscow ‌have carried out regular ‌POW exchanges throughout the war, committing during recent talks in Geneva to a new round of ​such swaps even as negotiations remain stuck over the question of territory.

"Every time our people ⁠come home, it proves that Ukraine is working to bring everyone ​back. No one is forgotten," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X.

"We involve mediators. I ​am grateful to everyone who ‌helps Ukraine. I thank the United States for its support in making ⁠this exchange possible."

Some of the POWs freed on Thursday were captured as far back as Moscow's siege of ⁠Mariupol in early 2022, Zelenskiy added.

Tearful relatives greeted loved ones - ​many of them draped in Ukrainian flags - as they emerged from a bus that had arrived at an undisclosed ‌location to chants of "Welcome!"

The two sides are expected to trade a further ‌300 POWs each in a second day of ⁠exchanges on Friday, officials ‌said.

(Reporting by Yuliia ​Dysa and Yurii Kovalenko; Writing by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Gareth ‌Jones)

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