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A view of the prisoner exchange on a road near Zaporizhzhya on June 29 in a photo provided by Ukraine's Military Intelligence.
A view of the prisoner exchange on a road near Zaporizhzhya on June 29 in a photo provided by Ukraine's Military Intelligence.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry has announced a prisoner exchange involving 144 Ukrainian soldiers, including scores of defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of Mariupol.

"This is the largest exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Of the 144 freed, 95 are Azovstal defenders. Among them, 43 servicemen of the Azov Regiment," the main intelligence directorate of the Defense Ministry said on June 29 on Telegram.

It did not specify when and where the swap took place or how many Russian prisoners were part of the exchange.

The head of a Russia-backed separatist group in Ukraine’s Donetsk region also reported a prisoner exchange with Kyiv, saying the number of fighters exchanged was 144 on each side.

Denis Pushilin said 144 Russia-backed separatists and Russian soldiers would return home as part of the exchange.

"We handed over to Kyiv the same number of prisoners from Ukrainian armed units. Most of whom were wounded,” Pushilin said on Telegram.

There had been concerns over the fate of Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner by Russian forces after they abandoned the Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol.

Some prominent Russian lawmakers last month said there should be no exchange of members of the Azov Regiment, which Russia considers a neo-Nazi organization.

Russia said some 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken into custody when it took over the steel plant. Pushilin said at the time he thought the prisoners would face a “tribunal.”

Ukrainian officials and relatives of the soldiers had urged Moscow to treat the men as prisoners of war, and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshuk said that Kyiv would fight for their return.

Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged prisoners several times since Russia invaded on February 24.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Trade union rallies in Iran demanding the release of imprisoned teachers and workers.
Trade union rallies in Iran demanding the release of imprisoned teachers and workers.

Many relatives of civic and labor activists detained in Iran say security agents are issuing threats if they don't remain silent about their loved ones' cases.

The families of Jafar Ebrahimi, Anisha Asadollahi, Rasul Badaghi, Mohammad Habibi, Hassan Saeedi, Reza Shahabi, Eskandar Lotfi, Shaban Mohammadi, Keyvan Mohtadi, and Massud Nikkhah -- activists who have been detained due to their participation in labor protests -- wrote about the threats in an open letter.

"In the past two months, not only has the pressure on our loved ones not ended, but prison officials have banned us from visiting them," they wrote.

Citing what they called the "negligence" of judicial officials in these cases, the signatories of the letter said the authorities told them that "if they do not remain silent, the situation will become more complicated."

The signatories called for an "immediate cessation of false allegations" and an "end to repeated, derogatory, and threatening interrogations."

"There is no justification for the continued detention of these activists," they said, adding that "threats and insults from prison officials and interrogators in dealing with detainees and their families are a clear example of persecution."

In May, security forces raided the homes of cultural and labor activists, arresting many of them and sending them to the notorious Evin prison.

UN human rights experts have previously expressed serious concern about the “violent repression” of civil society in Iran, including union members and teachers arrested for protesting low or unpaid wages and poor working conditions.

Labor protests in Iran have been on the rise in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of insurance support. The labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.

At the same time, pensioners and other groups have been protesting in recent months about the poor economic situation in the country, blaming the government for spiraling inflation, high unemployment, and failing to deliver on pledges to increase wages and improve living conditions.

The government's response to the protests has been arrests, violence, and repression of participants.

With writing and reporting by Ardeshir Tayebi

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"Watchdog" is a blog with a singular mission -- to monitor the latest developments concerning human rights, civil society, and press freedom. We'll pay particular attention to reports concerning countries in RFE/RL's broadcast region.

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