Russia and Ukraine exchanged 205 prisoners of war each on Friday in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as the first stage of a larger prisoner swap agreement between the two countries.
The exchange came a week after US President Donald Trump announced that both sides had agreed to carry out a major swap involving 1,000 prisoners.
Russia’s defence ministry confirmed that 205 Russian servicemen had been returned from Ukrainian-controlled territory, while 205 Ukrainian prisoners of war were handed back in exchange.
Zelenskyy later announced on Telegram that many of the freed Ukrainians had been held in Russian captivity since 2022, shortly after the war began following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader also revealed that some of those released included soldiers who defended the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol as well as personnel involved in protecting the Chernobyl area during the early stages of the conflict.
Images shared by Zelenskyy showed released Ukrainian soldiers wrapped in national blue-and-yellow flags while embracing one another after regaining freedom.
The latest exchange follows a temporary three-day ceasefire brokered by the United States earlier this month during Russia’s Victory Day commemorations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
However, despite the ceasefire arrangement, both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of violating the truce.
Ukraine recently alleged that Russia intensified attacks on civilian areas after the ceasefire ended, including a large-scale air assault on Kyiv on Thursday that reportedly killed at least 24 people.
Despite the ongoing conflict, prisoner exchanges remain one of the few areas where both sides continue to cooperate since the war began in February 2022.
Russia’s defence ministry said the returned Russian soldiers had been transferred to Belarus, where they are currently receiving medical treatment and psychological support.
Moscow also acknowledged the role of the United Arab Emirates in providing humanitarian assistance during the repatriation process.
