Ukraine and Russia announced their first prisoner-of-war exchange since August 2023 on Wednesday. The exchange involved a total of nearly 500 prisoners captured by both Ukraine and Russia. Following the exchange, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted its mediation efforts in the exchange.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 230 Ukrainians returned to Ukraine through the prisoner swap, six of whom are civilians. The prisoners included military personnel from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, National Guard, border guards and Navy. Some were considered missing in action. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, claimed that the exchange was the 49th exchange of captives, making a total of 2828 prisoners returned to Ukraine. On the other hand, Margarita Simonovna, the editor-in-chief of the state television channel RT, said that Ukraine handed over 248 military personnel in exchange for 173 Ukrainian captives.
Upon the exchange announcement, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release, thanking the Ukrainian and Russian governments for their cooperation and response to the UAE’s mediation efforts. The UAE also restated its commitment to finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine.
Hostage-taking is prohibited by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. The willful deprivation of civilians constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law under Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. On the other hand, customary international humanitarian rights law only requires the repatriation of captivated military personnel after the end of hostilities. Although there is no definition of the “end of active hostilities” in Article 118 of the Third Geneva Convention, in practice, this neither requires a formal armistice agreement nor the conclusion of a peace treaty. The unjustifiable delay of repatriation constitutes a grave breach of Additional Protocol I. Furthermore, international humanitarian law also requires states to ensure the safety and humane conditions of returnees for the duration of the journey even after release.
Relatedly, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, claimed that the Russian courts had issued long-term prison sentences for more than 200 Ukrainian military personnel on Jan 1. International humanitarian law protections do not apply if these personnel were lawfully convicted.
