Georgia, Russia Exchange Prisoners
Georgia swapped military prisoners on August 19 in a handover that took place at Igoeti, on a halfway between the town of Gori and Tbilisi.
The exchange of military prisoners took place after an initial failure by the sides to agree on swap on August 18.
The Georgian Ministry of Defense said that the exchanged involved 15 Georgian and five Russian servicemen.
“The exchange was carried out based on the principle of all-for-all,” Nana Intskirveli, the Georgian MoD’s spokesperson, told Civil.Ge on August 19.
Two Russian pilots were among them. One Russian pilot died and two others, Col. Igor Zinov and Maj. Vyacheslav Malkov, who managed to eject, were wounded and captured in Georgia. Before the swap they remained in hospital in Tbilisi undergoing medical treatment.
