Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast encourages Russia to exchange prisoners-of-war – ISW

Ukraine and Russia conducted a prisoner-of-war swap on 14 September, the third prisoner-of-war exchange since the start of the Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast, which appears to have had the short-term effect of increasing incentives for Russia to participate in prisoner-of-war exchanges.

Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Details: Ukrainian officials reported that Russia had returned 103 prisoners to Ukraine, including Ukrainian servicemen who defended the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in early 2022; members of the National Police and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine; members of the State Special Transport Service of Ukraine, and other Ukrainian servicemen. 

On 14 September, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that Ukraine had returned 103 people captured by Ukrainian forces in Kursk Oblast.

Russian sources suggested that the returned Russian prisoners were conscripts.

The exchange of prisoners-of-war took place the day after a similar exchange on 13 September, during which 49 prisoners were returned from each side.

Quote: "Ukrainian officials have repeatedly emphasised that the Kursk incursion has enhanced Ukraine’s negotiating power in POW exchanges with Russia, following the Kremlin's consistent rejection of Ukraine's attempt to negotiate exchanges. 

The frequency of POW exchanges between Ukraine and Russia has significantly increased since the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast on 6 August, with both sides exchanging a total of 267 POWs each in three separate exchanges.

Russia and Ukraine only conducted three other POW exchanges, encompassing roughly 405 Ukrainian POWs and 423 Russian POWs, between 1 January and 6 August 2024."

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