Russia and Ukraine have each released 103 captured soldiers in one of their latest wartime prisoner exchanges, brokered through the humanitarian mediation of the United Arab Emirates. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the return of 103 Ukrainian troops, noting that some had defended Mariupol (a strategic southern port city that fell after a prolonged Russian siege in 2022) while others were captured across seven frontline regions. Prisoner swaps have remained one of the few areas of limited cooperation between the two sides, even as broader peace negotiations stay effectively frozen and the UN reports civilian casualties in 2026 are at their highest level since the early weeks of the war.