ALBAWABA - In a recent prisoner exchange with Russia, 49 Ukrainians—both troops and civilians—were freed, according to a statement made today by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky verified that this most recent exchange had effectively brought these people back to Ukraine in a Telegram announcement. He sent gratitude to the group in charge of arranging the release and emphasized how crucial it is to make sure all Ukrainian detainees are returned home.
Russia has not yet released a statement describing the specifics of the encounter.
In related news, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a warning, saying that permitting Ukraine to use long-range weaponry to strike Russian territory would mean that the US, NATO, and other European nations would be directly involved in the fighting. According to Putin, in such a situation, Russia would be compelled to respond appropriately in light of the perceived threats.
Following the 10th St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, Putin spoke with Rossiya-1 television to address concerns on the potential use of long-range precision weapons by Ukraine. He underlined that while Ukraine is already attacking with drones and other tools, using highly accurate long-range weaponry would be a different story.
Putin said that the Ukrainian military is not yet equipped to carry out assaults using high-precision, long-range Western equipment. He said that such a capacity would need information from satellites that the US, the EU, or NATO may possess but which are not under Ukrainian control. He further emphasized that only NATO military professionals, not Ukrainian troops, could operate these missile systems.
