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Russia and Ukraine exchanged 205 prisoners of war (POW) each on Friday, Russian officials and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The exchange came a week after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that a large prisoner swap would take place between the two sides.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said, “205 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory” controlled by Kyiv, adding that “in exchange, 205 Ukrainian armed forces prisoners of war were transferred.”
Zelenskyy said 205 Ukrainians had returned home from Russian captivity, describing the exchange as the first stage of a planned 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap.
“Today, warriors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service are returning from Russian captivity,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said those released included privates, sergeants and officers, most of whom had been held in Russian captivity since 2022.
He said the released Ukrainians had defended the country in Mariupol and at Azovstal, as well as in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Kyiv sectors, and at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
“I thank everyone working to bring our people home—first and foremost, our warriors, who replenish Ukraine’s exchange fund, and our team,” Zelenskyy said.
He also thanked partners who helped free Ukrainians from captivity and said Ukraine would “continue to fight for every single person who remains in captivity.”
Trump said last week that Russia and Ukraine would carry out a mutual swap of 1,000 prisoners.
He made the announcement as he declared a three-day, U.S.-brokered ceasefire that covered Russia’s May 9 parade marking the defeat of the Nazis.
Both sides have accused each other of violating the truce. Ukraine has accused Moscow of increasing strikes against civilians after the ceasefire expired, including an air barrage on Kyiv on Thursday that killed at least 24 people.
The exchange came as prisoner swaps remain one of the few areas of cooperation between Russia and Ukraine, which have been at war since Russia ordered troops into its neighbor in February 2022.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the returned Russian servicemen were in Belarus, where they were receiving psychological and medical assistance.
“The Russian servicemen are currently in the Republic of Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance,” the ministry said.
The ministry also said the United Arab Emirates provided humanitarian assistance during the return of the Russian servicemen from captivity.
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