Russia and Ukraine have completed the first phase of what is expected to be the biggest prisoner exchange since the start of the war, with almost 800 people released on Friday.
Russia and Ukraine each handed over 390 soldiers and civilians.
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.
The swap started on Friday, May 23, 2025, and will continue on Saturday and Sunday, with Kyiv and Moscow expected to swap 2,000 people – 1,000 from each side.
The agreement to release 1,000 prisoners on each side was the only significant outcome of the meeting between Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul last week, which marked the first time the two sides have met directly since soon after Russia’s full-scale unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X, “We are bringing our people home,” adding that 390 people arrived back to Ukraine on Friday. “We are verifying every surname, every detail about each person,” he stated.
The Ukrainian Coordination Center for Treatment of Prisoners of War said that three women and 387 men were among those released on Friday.
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.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also confirmed the exchange, saying in a statement that “270 Russian servicemen and 120 civilians” were returned to Russia.
It said that the civilians were captured by Ukrainian troops in Kursk, the Russian region to which Ukraine launched a surprise incursion last summer. Russia has since reclaimed most of the territory.
Russia Hints Second Round of Talks
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov said that there would be a second round of talks, when Moscow would hand a “memorandum” to the Ukrainian side.
US President, Donald Trump said earlier this week that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately” start negotiating towards a ceasefire and an end to the war, after a two-hour phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since then, Zelenskyy has accused Putin of “trying to buy time” to continue the war.
Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni has backed a suggestion from Trump that the Vatican might mediate talks on negotiating a ceasefire, but Lavrov said that was “not a very realistic option.”
However, the Russian Foreign Minister repeated an unfounded claim that Zelenskyy was not a legitimate leader and suggested new elections should be held before a potential future peace agreement is signed.
“First we need to have a deal. And when it’s agreed, then we will decide. But, as President Putin has said many times, President Zelensky does not have legitimacy.”
Sergei Lavrov
He said after an agreement was ready, Russia would “see who out of those in power in Ukraine has legitimacy.”
“The key task now is to prepare a peace agreement which will be reliable and provide a long-term, stable and fair peace without creating security threats for anyone. In our case, we’re concerned with Russia.”
Sergei Lavrov
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been snatched by Russian authorities in occupied Ukraine and deported into Russia where they have been held without charge or trial.
Their status is complicated – because they have been detained illegally, Ukraine sees them as civilian hostages.
Russia has, in some cases, claimed that they should be recognized as prisoners of war – something Kyiv has been reluctant to do because it could put civilians living in occupied areas of Ukraine at risk of being arbitrarily detained.
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