Ukraine and Russia exchange 800 PoWs in largest prisoner swap so far

Ukraine and Russia have begun the largest prisoner exchange of the three-year war, with almost 800 captives returned on both sides in a process expected to last several days.

- Peter Beaumont Kyiv Pjotr Sauer

Confirming the first phase of the exchange had taken place, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Ukraine had returned 390 people to Russia and that the process would continue with further groups today and tomorrow. "It's very important to bring everyone home," he wrote on Telegram, thanking all who worked to secure their return and pledging to continue diplomatic efforts to make more exchanges possible.

"The agreement on the release of 1,000 of our people from Russian captivity was almost the only real result of the [direct talks between Russia and Ukraine a week ago in] Turkey," he added elsewhere on social media.

Images of the returned Ukrainian PoWs, released by Zelenskyy's office, showed shaven-headed former prisoners being greeted by their families. The released Russians were taken to Belarus for medical treatment, the Russian defence ministry said.

The exchange, which is also the biggest swap of Ukrainian civilians at one time, did not appear to herald any imminent halt in fighting.

The Ukrainian media outlet Espreso TV published a video of the wife of a prisoner crying tears of joy, wrapped in a flag on Kyiv's Independence Square. She said she had been waiting for her husband's release since 2022, and had just received the call from Ukrainian authorities confirming his release.