Russia and Ukraine each freed 160 soldiers on 26 June in an exchange brokered by the United Arab Emirates, The Gulf state that has mediated several swaps in the war 1. The freed soldiers had been held since 2022, and the released Russians had been held on Belarusian soil 2.
The exchange continues a track that has kept moving even as ceasefire talks stalled. Istanbul Round 2 on 2 June agreed a 1,200-for-1,200 swap , and Ukraine completed the war's largest single exchange, a 1,000-prisoner deal, on 24 May . The Emirati channel has been the constant facilitator across the conflict, producing agreed lists faster than the Russia-Ukraine bilateral track alone. That the released Russians were held in Belarus threads this swap back into the week's Belarus story.
