Ukraine frees 390 captives in first phase of major prisoner swap
Ukraine secured the release of 390 captives, including 270 soldiers and 120 civilians, in the first phase of a “1,000-for-1,000” prisoner exchange with Russia, with more swaps expected over the weekend, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday..
The exchange fulfills the initial stage of an agreement reached in Istanbul on May 16.
“Thank you to everyone who is helping and working 24/7 to bring Ukrainian men and women back home. It is very important to return everyone who remains in captivity. We are verifying every surname, every detail about each person. We will continue our diplomatic efforts to make such steps possible,” the head of state said.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs reported the group included 387 men and three women from the Navy, Airborne Assault Forces, Territorial Defense, National Guard, and Border Guard.
The soldiers fought in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Kherson, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kyiv oblasts.
“A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine. It will go into effect shortly. Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???” U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social.
This is the 65th exchange of prisoners of war since the beginning of the full-scale war.
According to hromadske's sources, the current exchange is the first stage of a larger exchange that will last several days.
The Russian Defense Ministry also announced that it had exchanged 270 of its soldiers and 120 civilians from Kursk Oblast.
Background
On May 16, in Istanbul, the delegations of Ukraine and Russia agreed during negotiations on the exchange of prisoners of war in the "thousand-for-thousand" format.
CNN, citing an unnamed Turkish official, wrote that Türkiye proposed the prisoner exchange when the situation in negotiations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation became "impossible" after Russia demanded that it transfer control of four oblasts of Ukraine.
The Security Service of Ukraine reported on May 17 that it had begun preparations for the exchange. In particular, the SBU was forming a list of Russian soldiers held in Ukrainian captivity who could be transferred to the Russian Federation.
Earlier, the Ukrainian and Russian sides handed over to each other lists of those being prepared for this exchange. The head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, suggested that the exchange could take place from May 19 to 25.
The previous exchange took place on May 6, mediated by the United Arab Emirates and brought 205 Ukrainian soldiers home.
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