Russia and Ukraine complete initial phase of 1,000 prisoner exchange

Ukraine on Friday exchanged its first wave of prisoners with Russia, with more swaps expected Saturday and Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The two countries agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each during last week’s negotiations in Turkey—the largest prisoner swap since the full-scale war began in 2022. Civilians and women were among those returned to Ukraine, its defense ministry said Friday.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine returned 270 prisoners of war and 120 civilians. They were receiving medical care in neighboring Belarus, the ministry said. Seventy of those civilians sent to Russia were Ukrainian citizens, imprisoned for treason or collaboration with Russia, popular Ukrainian news site Strana reported.

What’s next? Ukraine wants an “all-for-all” prisoner exchange, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Sunday. The two countries were making progress toward that goal, he said. Also, the Turkish government will continue to mediate between Russia and Ukraine in diplomatic negotiations, the Turkish National Security Council said on Thursday, according to Türkiye Today.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on the negotiations in Turkey last week.