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Missiles over Crimea and a prisoner swap
Summary
A look back at 31 January 2024, when Storm Shadow strikes on Crimea and a prisoner exchange brokered by the United Arab Emirates unfolded on the same day.
What did the war look like on 31 January 2024? It showed two tracks running side by side: strikes on Crimea and a negotiated exchange of prisoners.
On that day, the Ukrainian Air Force launched a wave of Storm Shadow cruise missile strikes on Russian military infrastructure in Crimea. Explosions were reported near Sevastopol International Airport. Russia said it had shot down 20 Ukrainian missiles over the Black Sea.
The same day, Russia and Ukraine carried out a prisoner exchange on the border. Russia received 195 soldiers, while Ukraine received 207 military personnel and civilians. The United Arab Emirates facilitated the deal.
What the day showed
The two events were separate, and nothing in the reports links one to the other. Still, together they show that fighting and limited contact between the two sides continued at once. The strikes targeted military infrastructure on the peninsula, and Russia's claim of 20 missiles downed was its own account of the outcome. The exchange, by contrast, involved both sides and a third-party mediator, and it returned civilians as well as soldiers to Ukraine.
