Prisoner swap is major triumph for Ukraine’s President Zelensky – The Guardian

Today's prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine is a major domestic triumph for Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

"The prisoner swap is a major domestic triumph for Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky. A comedian with no previous political experience, Zelensky came to power earlier this year after promising to bring Ukrainian prisoners home from Russian jails," The Guardian writes in an article.

This is the first major prisoner exchange between the two countries since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and Kremlin-backed separatists carved out two so-called people’s republics in eastern Ukraine.

On Saturday, September 7, Ukraine and Russia held an exchange of prisoners in the 35 for 35 format. A total of 11 Ukrainians illegally convicted in Russia, as well as 24 sailors detained near the Kerch Strait in late November 2018, returned home.

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