Over 100 Ukrainian prisoners were released in a UAE-mediated swap with Russia, with Ukraine calling for deeper strikes into Russian territory.

According to Reuters, more than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war will soon be reunited with their families following an exchange of captives between the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces.

The prisoner swap, which took place on Saturday and was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, involved 206 military personnel from both countries.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, announced that of the 103 Ukrainian "warriors" released, 82 were soldiers and privates, while 21 were officers, including police officers and border guards.

Photographers captured the poignant moment when the Ukrainians, wrapped in their national flag and visibly emotional, embraced their fellow soldiers after the exchange took place at an undisclosed location in Ukraine.

The released individuals appeared pale and thin, with all of them having shaved heads. One of the men knelt on the ground, draped in his national flag, and made an emotional phone call while gazing down at his homeland.

In exchange for their freedom, Ukraine handed over 103 Russian military personnel who had been captured in the Kursk border region during a surprise incursion by Ukrainian forces in August.

The Russian defense ministry reported that these Russian captives are now in Belarus, where they are receiving psychological and medical assistance, as well as having the opportunity to contact their relatives.

This was the second prisoner swap since Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region and followed mediated negotiations between the two countries.

UAE officials stated that the total number of captives exchanged through their mediation efforts has now reached 1,994.

On Saturday, Ukraine renewed its call to the West to permit strikes deeper into Russia. This followed a meeting on Friday between Joe Biden and Keir Starmer, which did not result in a noticeable change in British and US policies regarding the use of long-range weapons.

Zelenskiy has been advocating for the use of British Storm Shadow missiles, capable of striking targets at least 190 miles (300 kilometers) away, to target airbases, missile sites, and other military installations within Russia.

To date, the US has limited Kyiv’s use of American-provided weapons to strikes within a restricted area along Russia’s border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak commented on Saturday that “Russian terror begins at weapons depots, airfields, and military bases inside the Russian Federation,” and that permission to strike deeper into Russia would accelerate the resolution of the conflict.

On Thursday, Vladimir Putin warned Western leaders that allowing Ukraine to use Western-made long-range missiles would be tantamount to NATO being at war with Russia.

At a foreign policy summit with Starmer at the White House on Friday, Biden dismissed this claim, stating to reporters, “I do not think much about Vladimir Putin.”