War in Ukraine: Ukraine and Russia announce an exchange of prisoners of war… an update on the situation

Le point sur la situation. MAXPPP – Nicolas Cleuet/Le Pictorium

Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Wednesday, January 3, 2024, discover the latest news around this conflict.

Ukraine and Russia announce exchange of prisoners of war

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said Wednesday that more than 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been released by Russia, while Moscow announced the return of 248 Russian prisoners of war to the country.

"They have returned", wrote Volodimir Zelensky on the messaging app Telegram, also publishing a short video of some Ukrainian prisoners of war released by Russia.

For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense indicated that this exchange of prisoners had been made possible by mediation from the United Arab Emirates following “complex” negotiations.

kyiv and Moscow have already carried out several prisoner exchanges since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Russia will rebuild houses bombed by mistake in the west of the country

A Russian regional governor said Wednesday he had ordered the reconstruction of nine houses in a village that was accidentally bombed by a Russian military plane in the country's west.

In the incident, which occurred on Tuesday, munitions were mistakenly dropped over the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh region, the news agency reported RIA, citing the Ministry of Defense.

Governor Alexander Gousev said the nine houses would be rebuilt as soon as possible. A small local school, arts center and administrative building were also damaged.

No one was reported killed in the incident, but four people were treated for minor injuries and residents were provided with psychological support.

Five cars and a tractor were also damaged, and their owners will be compensated.
"No resident will be left behind, we will support everyone as much as possible", added Alexander Gousev.
Authorities have not specified the cause of the incident.

Russia says it destroyed 12 missiles fired at Belgorod

Russian air defense systems destroyed twelve missiles launched by Ukraine on the Russian Belgorod region on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram messaging.

The governor of the region, bordering northeastern Ukraine, reported a drone attack approaching the town of Belgorod, regularly the target of Ukrainian strikes since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.