Ukraine exchanged over 100 individuals with Russia this week as the country celebrated its third Independence Day since the invasion began.
The two nations swapped an even number of prisoners — 115 soldiers for 115 soldiers — on Saturday, the 55th such exchange of the ongoing conflict.
‘Another 115 of our defenders have returned home today. These are warriors of the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy, and the State Border Guard Service,’ Zelenskyy said in a statement on the exchange. ‘We remember everyone. We are searching for them and making every effort to bring them all back.’
The agreement was struck via negotiations facilitated by the United Arab Emirates.
Zelenskyy praised those soldiers responsible for capturing Russian combatants, stating that such successes on the battlefield give the much smaller nation leverage in negotiations for their own men’s return.
‘I am grateful to each unit that replenishes our exchange fund. This helps to advance the release of our military personnel and civilians from Russian captivity,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘I thank our team and partners, the UAE, for bringing our people back home.’
Officials in the Kremlin are scrambling to downplay Ukraine’s invasion into the Kursk region as Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed for a second week to stop Kyiv’s advances on his home turf, according to a report by independent Russian news outlet Meduza.
The report, which first emerged last week, claimed that sources in the Kremlin have begun pushing government-funded media agencies to minimize the severity of the Ukrainian incursion and to start employing a propaganda campaign that encourages Russians to embrace the ‘new normal.’
Fox News Digital could not independently verify the report, which comes as Ukraine continues to tout its success in capturing more than 780 square miles of Kursk, including the town of Sudhza, as well as nearly 100 Russian villages, according to Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Tuesday.
Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
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