Ukraine and Russia take part in biggest prisoner swap since 2022 invasion

37 minutes ago Share Save James Waterhouse & Amy Walker In northern Ukraine & London Share Save

Volodymyr Zelensky/X Some of the released Ukrainians were pictured shortly after they were freed by Russia

Russia and Ukraine have each handed over 390 soldiers and civilians in the biggest prisoner exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. They both returned 270 servicemen and 120 civilians on the Ukrainian border with Belarus, as part of the only deal agreed in direct talks in Istanbul a week ago. Both sides had agreed to an exchange of 1,000 prisoners and confirmed there would be further swaps in the coming days. Although there have been dozens of smaller-scale exchanges, no other handover has involved as many civilians.

The Russian defence ministry said servicemen and civilians, including those captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region during Kyiv’s offensive in recent months, were among those handed over. They were currently on Belarusian territory and were to be taken to Russia for medical checks and treatment, the ministry said.

Russian MOD Russia’s defence ministry shared images of the Russian servicemen released by Ukraine

“We are bringing our people home,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on social media. “We are verifying every surname, every detail about each person.” Ukraine’s co-ordination headquarters for prisoners of war said the 270 Ukrainian servicemen had fought in regions across the east and north, from Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy to Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson. Three of the 390 released on Friday were women, officials said, and some of the soldiers had been held since 2022.

Relatives waited in northern Ukraine in the hope their fathers and husbands would soon come home

US President Donald Trump earlier posted his congratulations on his Truth Social platform, claiming that the swap was complete and that “this could lead to something big???”. Families of Ukrainian soldiers held by Russia gathered in northern Ukraine on Friday in the hope that their sons and husbands would be among those released. Natalia, whose son Yelizar was captured during the battle for the city of Severodonetsk three years ago, told the BBC she believed he would return, but did not know when.

Olha held a photo of her son Valerii, who she said was captured two months ago

✕ Close Putin addresses ceasefire hopes after phone call with Trump

On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice

Volodymyr Zelensky declared Ukraine was ‘bringing out people home’ after the first stage of a large-scale prisoner swap took place.

The Ukrainian president said 390 prisoners were returned on Friday, with more to follow over the weekend in the ‘1,000-for-1,000’ prisoner of war swap agreed with Russia in the first direct talks between the two countries in Turkey last week.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the countries swapped 270 prisoners of war and 120 civilians with each other, making it the largest such exchange in the whole of the three-year conflict.

The POW exchange came after Kyiv’s former military chief turned ambassador to the UK warned that Ukraine must abandon dreams of regaining all territory lost to Russia.

Valery Zaluzhnyi, 51, suggested the only way Ukraine could regain its land would be through a “miracle” and Ukraine was unlikely to regain the borders it had in 1991 or even 2022.

Zelensky and other public figures have long called for the eviction of Russian forces and a return to the 1991 borders, including Crimea.

But as efforts over recent months have focused on launching talks to secure a ceasefire, public statements by Kyiv have been more moderate on the question of ceding territory.

Russia and Ukraine each released 390 prisoners on Friday and said they would free more in the coming days, in what is expected to be the biggest prisoner swap of the war so far.

The agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each was the only concrete step toward peace to emerge last week from two hours of talks in Istanbul, the first direct talks between the warring sides in more than three years.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said each side had released 270 soldiers and 120 civilians on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the total of 390 each, and said more would be released on Saturday and Sunday.

Earlier, Ukrainian authorities told reporters to assemble at a location in the northern Chernihiv region in anticipation that some freed prisoners could be brought there.

Family members of Ukrainian prisoners hold banners and photos of servicemen in captivity ahead of the exchange. (Efrem Lukatsky/The Associated Press)

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been wounded or killed in Europe’s deadliest war since the Second World War, although neither side publishes accurate casualty figures. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have also died as Russian forces have besieged and bombarded Ukrainian cities.

The Russian Defence Ministry said those released included civilians captured in Russia’s Kursk region during a Ukrainian incursion there that began last year.

The freed Russian servicemen and civilians were in Belarus, which neighbours Ukraine, and receiving psychological and medical assistance before being moved to Russia for further care, it said.

Deadly attack in Odesa

While U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is losing patience with both countries as the U.S. seeks an end to the war, in general he has shifted American policy from supporting Ukraine with significant military and humanitarian aid to accepting some of Russia’s account of the war.

Trump said he could tighten sanctions on Moscow if it blocked peace, but after speaking with Putin on Monday there was no immediate action, even as the European Union issued its 17th sanctions package against Russia.

WATCH l Canadian comedy legend on Ukraine connection, inspiring Kyiv visit: Ukraine’s quiet resistance surprises comedian Dave Thomas Duration 10:01 Iconic Canadian comedian Dave Thomas, best known as half of Bob and Doug McKenzie, recently spent time in Ukraine and was surprised by how normal life carried on — with a sense of quiet resistance. McKenzie spoke to The National’s Ian Hanomansing about his experience there and why he’s always valued his Canadian passport.

Referring to the prisoner swap earlier on Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???”

Moscow says it is ceasefire-ready for talks while the fighting goes on, and wants to discuss what it calls the war’s “root causes,” including its demands Ukraine cede more territory, and be disarmed and barred from military alliances with the West. Kyiv says that is tantamount to surrender and would leave it defenceless in the face of future Russian attacks.

Meanwhile, fighting has continued.

Russia, which occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine, claimed on Friday to have captured a settlement called Rakivka in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region.

The governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said Russia had struck port infrastructure there with two missiles on Friday afternoon, killing one person and wounding eight.

Ukraine and Russia begin the largest prisoner-of-war exchange since the invasion

toggle caption Military Administration of Kyiv City/Anadolu via Getty Images

A CITY IN NORTHERN UKRAINE — Ukraine and Russia began the exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war Friday, the largest such swap since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“We are bringing our people home,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media, after the soldiers had crossed into Ukraine. Shortly after they had crossed, he posted several photos of the freed Ukrainians, many draped in the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag.

He said 390 people were included in the first of a three-day exchange. “This agreement was reached at a meeting in Turkey,” he added, “and it is important to fully implement it.”

Sponsor Message

The Ukrainian authorities asked NPR not to disclose the location out of security concerns. An area with so many Ukrainian soldiers and civilians gathered in one place could be at risk of a strike.

This POW exchange was the only deal made in Istanbul last week during the two countries’ first direct negotiations about a ceasefire since the early days of Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Even before the exchange was announced on Friday, President Trump took to social media saying it was completed.

Ukrainian authorities said 270 soldiers and 120 civilians were included in Friday’s exchange.

Zelenskyy’s office said earlier this month that more than 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers are estimated to have been captured by Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. According to Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, more than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians are also in Russian captivity.

One of those civilians is Volodymyr Mykolayenko, the former mayor of the southern city of Kherson. His niece Hanna Korsun-Samchuk told NPR that Russian forces took him away after occupying the city for several months in 2022.

“I’ve been trying to raise the issue of civilian prisoners because there’s no easy procedure for exchanging them,” she said on Monday in an interview in Kherson.

Dozens of Ukrainian families waited for hours in a leafy courtyard for the liberated prisoners of war, hoping their loved ones would be among them. They held banners, flags and posters emblazoned with images of their loved ones, all soldiers.

Sponsor Message

Katya Kobel, who is from the northern city of Chernihiv, wept as she spoke about her husband, Hryhori, who has been in Russian captivity since December 2023. She says she found he was captured in the eastern Donetsk region after receiving text messages with photos of her husband from a Russian number.

“They told me, ‘We have captured your man,’ ” she said.

Natalia Apetyk is hoping her 23-year-old son, Yelizar, will finally come home. He has been in Russian captivity since 2022, when he was captured while defending eastern Ukraine from a Russian incursion.

“Today it is exactly three years since his last call, and tomorrow it will be three years since he disappeared,” she said.

Eighteen-year-old Milena Moroz is holding a photograph of her father, Yevhen, who was taken prisoner in February of this year in eastern Ukraine. She says she didn’t see her father as much as she would have liked, since her parents are divorced.

She is waiting to tell him something important, something she wished she had told him more often: “I love you, Dad.”

NPR’s Hanna Palamarenko contributed to this report from Kyiv.

A major prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine has begun, the countries said, in one of the few signs of progress from their direct talks last week in Istanbul.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the first phase of the exchange was bringing home 390 Ukrainians, with further releases expected over the weekend.

“It’s very important to bring everyone home,” he wrote on Telegram, thanking all who worked to secure their return and pledging to continue diplomatic efforts to make more exchanges possible.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said each side had released 270 military personnel and 120 civilian detainees. The exchange is “planned to continue in coming days,” it said.

Ukraine’s 65th Mechanised Brigade (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine’s 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

In Turkey last week, Ukraine and Russia agreed to the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side in their first direct peace talks since the early weeks of Moscow’s 2022 invasion.

That meeting lasted only two hours and brought no breakthrough in efforts to stop the fighting.

The swap was taking place at the border with Belarus in northern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

The released Russians were taken to Belarus for medical treatment, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

The exchange, which also would be the biggest swap of Ukrainian civilians at one time, did not appear to herald any halt in fighting.

Russia launched two ballistic missiles at infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa, killing one worker and injuring eight others – four critically, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper.

It was the first recorded attack on the port since March 11.

Fighting continues along the 620-mile front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.

News of the prisoner release emerged when US president Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had carried out a large exchange.

Russian servicemen (Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP)

“A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine,” Mr Trump said on the Truth Social platform. He said it would “go into effect shortly.”

He added in the post that “this could lead to something big???” — apparently referring to other diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

After the May 16 talks, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a “confidence-building measure” and said the parties had agreed in principle to meet again.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic manoeuvering continued.

European leaders have accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger army’s battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.

The Istanbul meeting revealed both sides clearly remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting. One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement.

The Kremlin has pushed back on a temporary halt to hostilities, and Mr Putin has said any such truce must come with a freeze on Western arms supplies to Ukraine and an end to Ukraine’s mobilisation drive.

A senior Ukrainian official said in Istanbul that Russia had introduced new, “unacceptable demands” to withdraw Ukrainian forces from huge swaths of territory.

The official, who was not authorised to make official statements, spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The proposal had not been previously discussed, the official said.

Mr Putin has long demanded as a key condition for a peace deal that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four regions that Russia annexed in September 2022 but never fully controlled.

Mr Zelensky has warned that if Russia continues to reject a ceasefire and make “unrealistic demands,” it will signal deliberate efforts to prolong the war — a move that should bring tougher international sanctions.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had shot down 788 Ukrainian drones away from the battlefield between May 20-23.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 175 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as a ballistic missile since late Thursday.

Trump’s call with Putin exposes shifting ground on Ukraine peace talks

Watch: Trump believes Putin wants to make Ukraine ceasefire deal

Talks about memorandums and a “possible future” of peace hardly seems the kind of solid ground on which lasting deals can be quickly built.

That sentiment was somewhat at odds with the Russian view. Putin only said that his country is ready to work with Ukraine to craft a “memorandum on a possible future peace agreement”.

Still, the US president has not lost his sense of optimism about the prospect for peace, posting on social media that the combatants would “immediately start” negotiations for a ceasefire and an end to the war.

After a two-hour phone call with Putin, he said that the conditions of a peace deal could only be negotiated between Russia and Ukraine – and maybe with the help of the Pope.

Last week, he said that it would not be resolved until he and Russian President Vladimir Putin could “get together” and hash it out in person.

Putin again emphasised that any resolution would have to address the “root causes” of the war – which Russia has claimed in the past to be Ukraine’s desire for closer ties to Europe.

On Truth Social after the call, Trump said that Russia and Ukraine will “immediately start negotiations” toward a ceasefire, adding that “the conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties”.

But there is a possibility that Trump’s latest take on the war in Ukraine could be a sign that the US will ultimately abandon the negotiating table.

Later on Monday, Trump said he would not step away from brokering talks between the two countries, but acknowledged that he had a “red line in his head”.

“Big egos involved, but I think something’s going to happen,” he said. “And if it doesn’t, I’ll just back away and they’ll have to keep going.”

Such a move, however, comes with its own set of questions – and risks.

If the US washes its hands of the war, as Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have also threatened, does it mean the US would also end any military and intelligence support for Ukraine?

And if that is the case, then it may be a development that Russia, with its greater resources compared to a Ukraine cut off from American backing, would welcome.

That prospect is enough to have Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky concerned.

“It’s crucial for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the talks and the pursuit of peace,” he said on Monday after the Trump-Putin call.

Trump has expressed frustration with both Putin and Zelensky as efforts to resolve the three-year-old conflict drag on.

He accused the Ukrainian leader of “gambling with World War Three” in an explosive meeting in February in the Oval Office and, in April, said he was “very angry” and “pissed off” at Putin after talks continued to stall.

Putting aside Monday’s rhetoric, it appears that Ukraine and Russia are set to continue some kind of talks – and talking in any form is progress after nearly three years of war. Still to be determined is whether the Russian team will be more than the low-level delegation that travelled to Istanbul to meet with the Ukrainians last Friday.

Trump is holding out the promise of reduced sanctions on Russia – and new trade deals and economic investment – as the enticement that will move Putin toward a peace agreement. He mentioned that again in his post-call comments. Not discussed, on the other hand, were any negative consequences, such as new sanctions on Russian banking and energy exports.

The US president last month warned that he would not tolerate Putin “tapping me along” and said that Russia should not target civilian areas. But yesterday, Russia launched its largest drone strike of the war on Ukrainian cities, and Monday’s call between the two world leaders makes clear that any ceasefire or peace deal still seems well over the horizon.