The Ministry of Defense announced the gratuitous transfer of the ship "Sapphire" to Ukraine

In March, 19 civilian sailors from the Sapphire rescue vessel were handed over to Ukraine in exchange for 11 sailors from the Millennial Spirit (Moldovan flag).The exchange of prisoners scheduled for April 8 did not take place by the decision of the Ukrainian side *

Russia donated and “without any conditions” handed over to Ukraine the Sapphire rescue vessel, the sailors from which were exchanged in March for the captured sailors from the Millennial Spirit vessel sailing under the flag of Moldova, according to the Russian Interdepartmental Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response.

The headquarters added that the ship was handed over in the transfer area agreed in advance with the International Maritime Rescue Service (RR-2). "Sapphire" with a team of sailors was taken prisoner while trying to pick up Ukrainian border guards from Snake Island, said Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk.

At the request of Roskomnadzor, RBC provides data on the details of the military operation in Ukraine based on information from Russian official sources.

The headquarters also spoke about the failed exchange of prisoners of war, which the parties agreed on during negotiations on April 5. The department said that initially it was planned to exchange 251 prisoners, but later the parties agreed on the exchange of 38 people.

“The exchange of prisoners of war planned for April 8, 2022, due to the fault of the Ukrainian side, once again did not take place. During the day, the Ukrainian authorities repeatedly <...> reduced the number of prisoners of war declared for the exchange, subsequently the planned exchange was also rejected by the Ukrainian side without explanation, ”the report says.

Russia and Ukraine held an exchange of prisoners in the format "86 to 86" Politics

Since the beginning of the military operation, the Russian side has reported four exchanges of prisoners. The last one took place on April 5 in the “86 by 86” format, the Ukrainian side said and confirmed the Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova. Irina Vereshchuk then said that the “first full-fledged” exchange of prisoners took place between Russia and Ukraine.

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Prior to that, on March 21, Moskalkova announced the first exchange of prisoners - then Moscow handed over the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov to the Ukrainian side in exchange for nine Russians. Two days later, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that two exchanges of prisoners took place between Ukraine and Russia, but did not give details of the second. On March 24, the parties exchanged prisoners in the 10-to-10 format.

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