MOSCOW: Russia will free two Ukrainian-Hungarian nationals captured while fighting for Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban appealed for their release in a phone call. Ukraine accused the two countries of having “manipulated the sensitive issue of prisoners of war” and of staging the release as a PR stunt ahead of parliamentary elections in Hungary in April.

Putin and Orban discuss Hungarian POWs in Ukraine, highlighting tensions over military recruitment and energy supplies amid the ongoing conflict.

MOSCOW: Russia will free two Ukrainian-Hungarian nationals captured while fighting for Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor…