Ukraine secures release of 300 POWs, 2 civilians in second stage of exchange with Russia
Ukraine has secured the release of 300 prisoners of war and two civilian detainees from Russian captivity as part of the second stage of a previously agreed exchange, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on March 6.
The latest release brings the total number of Ukrainians freed over the past two days to 500, according to Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.
Those released include members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including Territorial Defense units, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service. All freed servicemen are enlisted ranks — sailors, soldiers, and sergeants.
Some of the released defenders had been held in captivity since 2022. The youngest freed serviceman is 26, captured at 22 in 2022, while the oldest is 60.
According to Zelensky, the servicemen fought on the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson fronts, as well as in Mariupol. Most had been held for more than a year.
"Three hundred of our defenders are returning home. Separately, we managed to free two civilian citizens," Zelensky said, thanking Ukrainian forces and negotiators who helped facilitate the exchange. He also expressed gratitude to the U.S. for mediation, saying it was important that "the agreements worked."
Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Budanov described the release as the second stage of an exchange agreed upon during negotiations in Geneva. He thanked U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration, as well as the United Arab Emirates, for their involvement in the humanitarian track.
Lubinets said representatives of the Ombudsman's Office have been present at the exchange site for two days, meeting the released prisoners, helping them contact relatives, and monitoring compliance with the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
He added that a total of 500 Ukrainian defenders had returned home over the past two days and that since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, 6,922 Ukrainians have been brought back from captivity.
Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed the exchange, saying 300 Russian servicemen had been returned from Ukrainian captivity in exchange for 300 Ukrainian prisoners of war. According to the ministry, the Russian soldiers are currently in Belarus, where they are receiving psychological and medical assistance before being transferred to Russia for further treatment and rehabilitation.
The ministry said the humanitarian mediation efforts were facilitated by the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that 200 Russian servicemen had been returned from Ukrainian-controlled territory the previous day.
Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration's Special Envoy to Peace Missions, praised the news, crediting the U.S. president with facilitating the swap.
"This exchange was achieved thanks to sustained and detailed peace discussions at the direction of President Donald J. Trump," he wrote on X.
"Under the President’s leadership, we continue to achieve meaningful outcomes while working towards formulating a peace deal that will end the war once and for all."
More than four years into the full-scale war, the process of POW exchanges — in addition to the repatriation procedure — is among the few channels in which both Kyiv and Moscow have continued to cooperate. Kyiv has repeatedly said that securing the return of all captured Ukrainians remains a priority.
"We remember every one of them and must bring all our people home," Zelensky said.
