Russia and Ukraine exchanged 205 prisoners of war each on Friday, authorities in Moscow and Kyiv confirmed, a week after US President Donald Trump announced that a large prisoner swap would take place between the warring sides.
The Russian defence ministry said in a statement shared on social media that “205 Russian servicemen were returned from territory” controlled by Kyiv.
It added that “in exchange, 205 Ukrainian armed forces prisoners of war were transferred.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram that most of the Ukrainians released had been in Russian captivity since 2022.
Mr Trump had earlier announced that Russia and Ukraine would carry out a mutual exchange of 1,000 prisoners as part of a three-day US-brokered ceasefire tied to Russia’s May 9 parade commemorating victory over Nazi Germany.
Ceasefire tensions
Both countries have traded accusations of violating the ceasefire, while Ukraine accused Moscow of intensifying attacks on civilians after the truce expired.
Ukrainian authorities said at least 24 people were killed in an air barrage on Kyiv on Thursday.
“This is the first phase of the 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange,” Mr Zelensky stated.
The Ukrainian leader also shared photographs showing released prisoners wrapped in Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow national flags while embracing one another.
According to Mr Zelensky, the released Ukrainians included troops who fought during the battle for Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks and soldiers involved in defending Chernobyl, which briefly fell under Russian control at the beginning of the invasion.
The prisoner exchanges remain one of the few areas of cooperation between both countries since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s defence ministry said the released Russian soldiers had been moved to Belarus, where they were receiving psychological and medical support.
The ministry also said the United Arab Emirates assisted with humanitarian support during the return process.
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