Latest Prisoners of war News

US historian leads charity run in Kyiv to highlight the plight of Ukrainian POWs

Sep. 14, 2024 07:57 AM EDT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. historian and author Timothy Snyder on Saturday led a charity run in Kyiv to raise awareness of the conditions under which Ukrainian prisoners of war are held in Russia as the conflict approaches a third winter. The race came following a recent escalation...

Blinken, on ninth Mideast trip since Gaza war began, seeks cease-fire momentum as talks to resume

Aug. 18, 2024 21:55 PM EDT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will use his ninth diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war to press for the quick conclusion of an elusive cease-fire agreement. Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday before what...

Ukraine says it has taken more ground and prisoners during its advance into Russia border region

Aug. 14, 2024 23:20 PM EDT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces pushed on with their major cross-border advance into Russia’s Kursk region for a second week Wednesday, claiming that they took more ground, captured more Russian prisoners and destroyed a bomber in attacks on military airfields. Assault...

Poland indicts man with spying for Russia after freeing him in swap and investigates others

Aug. 14, 2024 16:15 PM EDT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish prosecutors said Wednesday that they formally indicted a Russian-Spanish man on espionage charges, after Poland freed him from prison earlier this month so that he could be included in a prisoner swap between Russia and the West. Pavel Rubtsov, better...

Two men who say they're Russian appear in hostage video from Niger released by al-Qaida-linked group

Aug. 03, 2024 15:19 PM EDT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Two men claiming to be Russian nationals and saying they were taken captive in Niger by militants linked to al-Qaida appeared in a video published on a media platform affiliated to the extremist group. The video, which appeared on the az-Zallaqa platform on...

Russia's Wagner has deadliest loss in Africa’s Sahel, highlighting the region's instability

Jul. 29, 2024 15:48 PM EDT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Dozens of Wagner mercenaries were killed by jihadis and rebels over the weekend in northern Mali in what one analyst described on Monday as the largest battleground blow to the shadowy Russian group in years. At least two others were taken captive. ...

Thousands in Ukraine honor soldiers killed in blast and urge government to get prisoners freed

Jul. 29, 2024 02:26 AM EDT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians urged their government to do more to get Russia to release prisoners of war, voicing their anger on Sunday at a ceremony commemorating the second anniversary of an explosion that killed more than 50. Several thousand soldiers and civilians gathered...

2 years after Ukrainian POW deaths, survivors and leaked UN analysis point to Russia as the culprit

Jul. 25, 2024 11:41 AM EDT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The former prisoners of war still puzzle over the strange events leading up to the night now seared into their memories, when an explosion ripped through the Russian-controlled Olenivka prison barracks and killed so many comrades two years ago. Among the...

Takeaways from an investigation into deaths of over 50 Ukrainian POWs in a barracks 2 years ago

Jul. 25, 2024 03:35 AM EDT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An explosion ripped through the Russian-controlled Olenivka prison barracks two years ago, killing more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war and leaving dozens injured. The Associated Press interviewed over a dozen survivors, investigators and families of the...

Remains of World War II POW who died in the Philippines returned home to California

Jul. 17, 2024 14:20 PM EDT

ONTARIO, Calif. (AP) — The long-unidentified remains of a World War II service member who died in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in the Philippines in 1942 were returned home to California on Tuesday. The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Pvt. 1st Class Charles R. Powers, 18, of...