Ukraine and Russia hold new stage of prisoner exchange: who could be released

Ukraine and Russia have held another prisoner exchange. Those whose categories were agreed upon during the negotiations in Istanbul on 2 June were released. The exchange will take place in several stages in the coming days.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that at this stage, wounded and seriously wounded Ukrainian defenders, as well as prisoners under the age of 25, would return home. According to him, the negotiation process remains complicated and sensitive, but the Ukrainian side counts on the full implementation of the agreements on humanitarian issues reached in Turkey. Zelenskyy emphasised that work on the release of all captives continues on a daily basis.

Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets specified that servicemen, mostly born in 2000, had returned to freedom. Among them are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Border Service, the National Guard and territorial defence. Marines, paratroopers and defenders who were captured during the fighting for Mariupol were also released. Many of them had been in captivity since 2022 - since the first days of the full-scale invasion.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported that the released Ukrainians are members of the rank-and-file and non-commissioned officers. They will have their documents restored, will be paid their allowances for the entire time they were in captivity and will receive one-off assistance. In addition, they will all undergo a course of medical rehabilitation.

As the exchange is still ongoing, the exact numbers of those released have not yet been disclosed for security reasons. Final figures are promised to be released after all stages of the operation have been completed. Work is also under way to return the bodies of the dead Ukrainian servicemen to their homeland.

The parties have agreed on an "all-for-all" exchange, and the priority categories are seriously wounded, sick and young soldiers. According to Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, the exchange is focused on the release of certain categories rather than specific numbers. At the same time, President Zelenskyy earlier stated about agreements of at least "1,000 by 1,000" and a possible additional exchange in the format of "200 by 200". Ukraine also insists on the transparency of the procedure with the transfer of the lists and their verification.