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Just as 2024 has just arrived, there is a soothing good news on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield that has lasted for more than two years.
According to the "Global Times" report citing "Russia Today TV": On January 3, local time, Russia and Ukraine, after nearly half a year, another wave of hostage exchange was carried out.
Putin
The number of hostages exchanged this time reached 478, which is the largest hostage exchange since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict more than a year ago.
The two sides have been engaged in fierce fighting in the distant region of Eastern Europe for the past two years, and the number of casualties in both countries has increased as time has spread.
Does the significant increase in the number of hostage exchanges mean that the conflict has eased, and how will the situation develop after that?
Untenable situation
At the beginning of this conflict, the Russian army, with its strong military strength and more advanced weapons and equipment, fought successive victories, and once approached the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv.
However, with the intervention of NATO and Western countries, a large number of armed personnel and military supplies were sent into Ukraine, which also allowed the Ukrainian army to withstand the most violent waves of attacks of the Russian army at the beginning.
Coupled with the fact that the United States and Britain provided Ukraine with a large amount of battlefield intelligence, and the Western world imposed comprehensive sanctions on Russia, the two countries with a huge gap in size have fallen into a long phase of stalemate.
However, for a "protracted war" that lasts for a long time, what is being competed for is naturally the comprehensive national strength behind it.
Although the sanctions imposed by Western countries have dealt a blow to Russia's economic development to a certain extent, Putin has successfully completed the strategic transformation because of the rapid change of strategy, the focus of international trade cooperation on Asia and the East, and the use of a large amount of domestic energy resources.
This gives Russia ample confidence to consume on the battlefield.
On the other hand, the United States and Britain have been unable to deal a real blow to Russia due to the continuous investment, and gradually, many people and officials no longer pay their own money for other countries, so they began to protest one after another.
In this situation, since last year, the aid of Western countries to Ukraine has become less and less, which has put the Ukrainian army on the front line into a situation that is difficult to maintain.
Good news for a long time
On 7 October, a new round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began after the Palestinian armed forces Hamas attacked Israeli military posts and numerous buildings.
The chaos in the Middle East has begun to attract the attention of the United States and the Western world, and it has also made Ukraine, which is already struggling to support it, fall into a passive situation even more.
Just when Zelensky was sad about the situation on the battlefield, he finally ushered in a "good news" from the front line.
Zelensky
According to the information released by the "Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War", the Ukrainian department responsible for prisoner exchange affairs, on the evening of January 3, local time, the Russian side released 230 Ukrainian personnel, including 130 members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 55 members of the Ukrainian National Guard, 38 border guards, 1 national police officer and 6 civilians.
And Zelensky also publicly said in a slightly later video speech: "This release of the captives is long-awaited good news."
The Russian Ministry of Defense also released a message on the same day, claiming that under the humanitarian mediation of the United Arab Emirates and the international community, after several rounds of complex negotiations, 248 Russian prisoners returned to Russia from Ukraine-controlled areas.
As many as 478 prisoners from both sides were involved in this "hostage exchange", which is the largest number of prisoners exchanged since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Some international experts say this could be a sign that the conflict is beginning to de-escalate.
However, there are also some local media and international commentators who believe that the conflict is still raging in terms of the battlefield situation.
It is difficult to judge the future situation
On the same day that the two sides exchanged hostages, the Russian Ministry of Defense also released a message: six missiles and six rockets were shot down over Belgorod Oblast, located in the southwestern part of the mountainous region of central Russia.
The Ukrainian side claimed that it was attacked by a drone from Russia that night.
This is seen as a continuation of the effect of strategic retaliation triggered by Ukraine's recent strike on the Russian military base in Crimea.
On the frontline battlefield, the two sides are still fighting fiercely and anxiously.
The Russian-Ukrainian front is tug-of-war
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a morning update posted on the international social platform "Facebook" on the same day of January 3: "In the last 24 hours, there have been 57 fighting clashes on both sides. ”
It can be seen from this that although the two sides have achieved a greater tacit understanding in the exchange of hostages, the conflicts and contradictions between the two sides are still very fierce in the frontline fighting, and it is still difficult to judge the future situation in this conflict that has lasted for nearly two years.
References:
Russia and Ukraine achieve "largest prisoner of war exchange", Zelensky: long-awaited good news - Global Times
Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war - CCTV news client
At the beginning of the new year, Russia and Ukraine attacked each other on a large scale - Guangming.com
The largest since the escalation of the conflict, Russia and Ukraine each released more than 200 prisoners - Guangming Net