Ukraine and Russia begin large-scale prisoner exchange

Ukraine and Russia have carried out the first stage of a major prisoner exchange involving 1,000 captives from each side, with 205 Ukrainian prisoners returning home on Friday.

Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the released prisoners included members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service.

“205 Ukrainians are home. This is the first stage of the 1,000-for-1,000 exchange,” President Zelenskyy said.

Those released include soldiers, sergeants and officers, most of whom had been held in Russian captivity since 2022.

The returning prisoners had defended Ukraine in several key areas of the war, including Mariupol, the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works complex, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Kyiv regions. Some had also been captured while serving at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

President Zelenskyy thanked Ukrainian officials, military personnel and international partners involved in securing the exchange and pledged continued efforts to free all remaining prisoners of war.

Among those released were more than 50 officers. Ukrainian officials said one of the freed captives had been detained at the Chernobyl nuclear facility. The youngest released prisoner is 21 years old, while the oldest is 62.

Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said many of the returning prisoners were suffering from serious injuries, health complications and severe psychological trauma. Some defenders captured at Azovstal had reportedly been taken prisoner while wounded.