Ukraine and Russia carried out a prisoner exchange on 5 March. A total of 200 Ukrainians have returned home, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
This is the second exchange since the beginning of the year. The agreement was reached during talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia.
“Among those returning are defenders of Mariupol, Donetsk Region, Luhansk Region, Kharkiv Region and Zaporizhzhya Region. They include servicemen of the Armed Forces, the State Special Transport Service, border guards and National Guard troops,” Zelenskyy said.
The Russian side stated that this stage of the exchange will continue tomorrow, with a total of 1,000 people involved — 500 from each side. Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov confirmed that today marks the first stage of the exchange.
After another round of talks, Kyrylo Budanov said the next exchange should be larger than the previous one, when 157 prisoners were swapped.
Russia has been deliberately dragging out the exchange process to pressure Ukraine. The February exchange was the first it had allowed since October.
As of early March (excluding today’s exchange), more than 6,400 people had been freed from Russian captivity, including around 400 civilians.
On 14 February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited figures on prisoners of war: Russia holds about 7,000 Ukrainians, while Ukraine holds roughly 4,000 occupying troops.
