UAE mediates exchange of 300 Russia-Ukraine captives

The UAE has announced the success of mediation efforts in a new exchange of 300 captives between Russia and Ukraine bringing the overall number exchanged through UAE mediation efforts to 2,883.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) commended both Russia and Ukraine for their cooperation with the UAE’s mediation endeavours and their role in the exchange.

The Ministry emphasised that the success of this new mediation, the twelfth since the beginning of 2024, reflects the respect and distinguished ties between the UAE and the two countries.

The Ministry also reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to ensuring the success of all diplomatic efforts aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine, and mitigating the humanitarian impacts as a result of the crisis, including on refugees and captives.

In a post on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the UAE for its role in helping to bring 150 Ukrainians home from Russian captivity. He said soldiers, sergeants and Navy officers will be returning after being taken prisoner from the Mariupol and the Zaporizhzhia region.

Today is a good day for all of us. We are bringing home 150 of our defenders from Russian captivity. These are soldiers, sergeants, and officers – warriors of the Navy who were taken prisoner in Mariupol and the Zaporizhzhia region, warriors of the Air Force, Air Assault Forces,… pic.twitter.com/FScWB1303p

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 5, 2025