KYIV – 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. “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.
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 said that since her son Valerii had been captured with five other soldiers in the east, her life had stopped, as she did not know if they were still alive. “They were captured two months ago in Luhansk. They went missing in a village.”
The prisoner swap was agreed in Turkey a week ago, when low-level delegations from Ukraine and Russia came face to face for the first time since March 2022, even though the meeting lasted only two hours and failed to make any progress towards a ceasefire.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that there would be a second round of talks, when Moscow would hand a “memorandum” to the Ukrainian side.
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, Zelensky 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”. The Russian foreign minister repeated an unfounded claim that Zelensky was not a legitimate leader and suggested new elections should be held before a potential future peace agreement is signed.
Asked if Russia was ready to sign a deal, Lavrov said: “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.”
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.”
