Russia, Ukraine swap hundreds of prisoners in 1st round

MOSCOW

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that Moscow and Kiev had exchanged 270 servicemen and 120 civilians each in the first round of a large-scale swap, carried out under the terms of an agreement reached in Istanbul last week.

“On May 23, in accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements concluded on May 16 in Istanbul, 270 Russian servicemen and 120 civilians, including those captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk Region, were returned from territory controlled by the Kiev regime,” the ministry said in a statement.

In exchange, 270 Ukrainian military personnel and 120 civilians were returned to Ukraine.

According to the ministry, the returned Russian servicemen and civilians are currently in Belarus, where they are receiving psychological support and medical care.

All repatriated individuals will be transferred to medical facilities in Russia for further treatment and rehabilitation, it said.

The Russian Defense Ministry added that large-scale exchanges are expected to continue in the coming days.

U.S. President Donald Trump on early Friday said a "major prisoners swap" between Russia and Ukraine was "just completed."

"A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine. It will go into effect shortly. Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation," the US president posted on Truth Social. "This could lead to something big???"

There was no immediate comment from Kiev or Moscow, but the two sides had reached an agreement on exchanging 1,000 prisoners of war each during direct talks held in Istanbul last week.