Ukraine expects to exchange 500 POWs in next swap with Russia, Zelensky says

Ukraine plans to bring home a total of 500 prisoners of war (POW) from Russian captivity in an exchange with Russia between June 7 and 8, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a meeting with journalists on June 4 attended by the Kyiv Independent.

"Today, our teams held consultations on exchanges. The Russian side has informed us that this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, it will be able to transfer 500 people, our military personnel, out of the 1,000+ that we agreed on," Zelensky said.

The upcoming swap follows a major 1,000-for-1,000 exchange carried out between May 23 and 25. That deal, initially reached during Istanbul talks on May 16, was the largest prisoner exchange of the war so far.

The new exchange was agreed upon during the second round of direct talks held on June 2.

Zelensky said that Ukraine has not yet received the list of names for the upcoming swap, but that Moscow had promised to provide it in advance.

"This time, unlike in Istanbul last time, the Russians have promised to give us the lists of whom we are exchanging in advance, which is important for us," he noted.

The statement comes as a previous prisoner exchange list reportedly included Anatolii Taranenko, a Ukrainian service member accused of collaborating with Russia.

Taranenko's alleged inclusion in the exchange exacerbated criticism that Ukraine failed to secure the release of any Azov fighters and many civilians who had been held captive by Russia for years in what was the largest prisoner swap of the full-scale war.

After the June 2 talks, Russia also pledged to transfer 6,000 bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers and officers to Ukraine. Zelensky noted that preparations for exchanging the bodies will begin after the POW swap.

Ukraine has consistently pushed for an "all-for-all" formula in prisoner swaps, aiming to secure the return of every Ukrainian soldier in captivity. Russia has rejected that proposal.