Editor's note: The article incorrectly said that only soldiers were brought back to Ukraine as part of the exchange. Ukraine has brought back home 290 soldiers and 120 civilians. Their eyes fill with tears as they hear people shouting, ‘Thank you!’ and ‘Glory to Ukraine!’ The soldiers have just arrived
"We have to release all our people, unconditionally. We are trying to do the maximum we can. We are trying very hard," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The planned exchange follows an agreement reached between Ukrainian and Russian delegations during talks in Istanbul on May 16, 2025.
A major prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia involving around 1,000 POWs from each side is expected to take place next week, Ukraine's military intelligence chief said on air on May 17, following an agreement reached in Istanbul.
"We know the date, but we're not going to say it yet," Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.
This marks the fifth known prisoner of war (POWs) swap of 2025 and the 64th since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Wagner units were key to Russia's seizure of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast in May 2023.
Another 277 Ukrainian soldiers returned home in a major prisoner swap with Russia mediated by the United Arab Emirates, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on April 19.
The swap will reportedly involve 246 POWs from each side, as well as 46 injured soldiers, an undisclosed source told Sky News.
Moscow released Ksenia Karelina, a U.S.-Russian dual national accused of treason for allegedly raising money for the Ukrainian military, the WSJ wrote.
Ukraine has brought home 175 Ukrainian soldiers in a one-for-one prisoner exchange with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on March 19.
"I expect that we will have a conversation with President Trump, we will understand the details," Zelensky told Suspilne on March 18. "We have always supported the position of not attacking the energy sector with any weapons."
Protesters demanded an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange before any peace deal with Russia is signed.
"Thousands of people are being held in Russia. And some of them have been held not only since 2022, but much longer, since 2014," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
A 28-year-old U.S. citizen was detained at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport after Russian authorities allegedly found food items containing cannabis derivatives in his luggage.
Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cybercrime boss who was serving a prison sentence in the U.S., will be released in exchange for the return of American teacher Marc Fogel, Reuters reported on Feb. 12, citing an unnamed U.S. official.
"A Russian citizen will return to Russia in the coming days," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said without revealing his identity.
The released captives included members of the Navy, the Air Force, the Airborne Troops, the National Guard, the State Border Guard, the Territorial Defense Forces, and a police officer, according to the president.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said some of those brought back have serious injuries and illnesses.
"Ukraine is ready to hand over his people to Kim Jong Un if he can organize their exchange for our soldiers who are held captive in Russia. For those North Korean soldiers who do not want to return, there may be some other ways."
"We will see if the Russian side keeps its word. If they do, Ukrainian society will notice the systematic nature in terms of quantity, timing, and categories [of prisoners returning home]," Ukraine's ombudsman said.
Over the past year, Ukraine conducted 11 prisoner exchanges and secured the return of 356 more people than in 2023.
Key developments on Dec. 30: * Ukraine brings back 189 people from Russian captivity in prisoner swap * Biden announces $2.5 billion security assistance package for Ukraine * Russian military suffers 427,000 casualties in 2024, Syrskyi claims * Russia launched over 1,300 drone strikes, 250 missiles at Kyiv in 2024 Ukraine
The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) called it one of the largest prisoner exchanges since the start of the full-scale war in 2022.
The U.S. government has officially classified Marc Fogel, an American schoolteacher jailed in Russia on drug charges, as wrongfully detained, the State Department announced on Dec. 27.
“It was at the start of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ military operation in Kursk Oblast. I believe the Kursk operation provided strong arguments in favor of Ukraine,” Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.
The Hungarian side "did not discuss anything" with Ukraine and "did not warn about its contacts with Moscow," said Dmytro Lytvyn, the presidential communications adviser, referring to Viktor Orban’s recent phone call with Vladimir Putin.
Russia will "definitely be prepared to consider" a prisoner exchange, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told NBC News, adding that a potential exchange could mark "a healthy step forward, especially at the beginning of the next (U.S.) administration."
"Ukraine is not delaying and did not delay the exchanges, but on the contrary, declared its readiness to repatriate seriously injured and seriously ill prisoners by creating a mixed medical commission," Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.
Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said on Nov. 3 that Ukraine remains willing to receive its citizens and blamed Russia for slowing down the exchanges.
"Yesterday morning, after the inspection, they told me that I was leaving in half an hour, but they didn't tell me where. ... We found out about the exchange by accident on the way."
The returned prisoners also reportedly included some mobilized Russian fighters and contract soldiers, including kadyrovtsy, the notoriously ruthless troops named for Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.
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