MOSCOW: Russia and Georgia on Tuesday exchanged prisoners captured in the conflict that started when Tbilisi launched an assault on the Moscow-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia on August 7.
In the exchange carried out in Igoeti, a town located some 40 km from Georgian capital Tbilisi, Moscow handed 13 Georgian military personnel and two civilians taken prisoner in South Ossetia, in exchange for five Russians including two pilots, Land Forces spokesman Colonel Igor Konashenkov said.
The Igoeti checkpoint has in recent days marked the current limit of Georgian control in the area, with one side blocked by Georgian police and the other controlled by a handful of Russian soldiers.
In Moscow, the foreign ministry has welcomed the exchange of prisoners of war saying all the outstanding issues will be resolved in a constructive way.
The five-day-long war in which hundreds of people were killed came to an end after Russia and Georgia signed a cease-fire deal brokered by France.
