Ukraine, Russia carry out another prisoner swap as third round of Istanbul peace talks concludes

"Ukraine has brought home another group of soldiers released from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 23, marking yet another in a recent series of exchanges with Moscow.

The swap follows eight other exchanges carried out in recent weeks in accordance with an agreement reached between Kyiv and Moscow at the second round of peace talks in Istanbul on June 2.
"The ninth phase of the Istanbul-negotiated exchange concluded today, facilitating the return of critically ill and severely wounded defenders," Zelensky said. "We are now able to disclose that, through all iterations of the recent Istanbul agreements, we have secured the return of more than 1,000 people. For a thousand families, this represents a profound opportunity to embrace their loved ones once more. Our appreciation goes to all who contributed to this." KI