(Reuters) – Russia and Ukraine are set to exchange 90 prisoners of war on Wednesday in a deal facilitated by the United Arab Emirates, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. Russian and Ukrainian officials who have led previous prisoner swaps did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Last week, Ukrainian media reported that the parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets had said the government, with the help of the UAE, was planning “a big” prisoner exchange with Russia soon.
Russia and Ukraine have conducted a few prisoner swaps in the 27-month-old war that started after Russia invaded its smaller neighbour.
In the latest exchange, which occurred in June and was also facilitated by the UAE, Russia and Ukraine each handed back 90 prisoners.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Bangalore newsroom; Writing by Lidia Kelly; editing by Miral Fahmy)