Ukraine swaps Russian officer for five fighters, Sumy governor says

People remove debris at the site of a military base building that, according to the Ukrainian ground forces, was destroyed by an air strike, in the Sumy region

LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - The northeastern Ukrainian region of Sumy exchanged a captured Russian officer for five fighters from Ukraine's defence forces, governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said on social media, adding that it was the first such swap in the area.

He posted a video of a blond-haired man in handcuffs and wearing a green camouflage jacket, saying he was born in 1997 in the Russian city of Omsk. He also said that he was being taken to be exchanged for Ukrainian fighters.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the video immediately.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Natalia Zinets, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska)

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