First pictures as major prisoner exchange underway between Russia and Ukraine
Kyiv and Moscow are expected to swap hundreds of prisoners over several days, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
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Following the agreements reached at the meeting in Istanbul, Ukraine succeeded in returning 390 citizens from Russian captivity.
In a post shared on X, Defence of Ukraine shared pictures of the released prisoners and said: "Military and civilians. Men and women. Each of them is ours. We formed the lists with the sole objective of saving lives.
"Within the framework of the Istanbul agreements, we expect new exchanges to continue over the coming days. We will not forget anyone. And we will keep working until we bring them back."
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said: "A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine. It will go into effect shortly. Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big???"
There have been 64 prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The most recent exchange, on May 7, saw more than 200 Ukrainian service members returned home.
Previous exchanges have been derailed before completion.
Read More: No new direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks scheduled, Kremlin says
Today, following the agreements reached at the meeting in Istanbul, Ukraine succeeded in returning 390 of our citizens from russian captivity.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 23, 2025
Military and civilians. Men and women. Each of them is ours. We formed the lists with the sole objective of saving lives. Within the… pic.twitter.com/IOeHhBJEmI
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in Ukraine said 4,757 Ukrainian citizens have been released by Russia since March 2022.
The agreement to release 1,000 prisoners from each side of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was the only significant outcome of direct peace talks between the two sides in Istanbul last week.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a “confidence-building measure” and said the parties had agreed, in principle, to meet again.
The meeting in Istanbul revealed that both sides remain far from agreeing on key conditions to end the fighting.
One condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step towards a peaceful resolution.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said any temporary halt to the fighting must be accompanied by a freeze on Western arms supplies to Ukraine and an end to Ukraine's mobilisation drive.
A senior Ukrainian official said Russia had introduced new "unacceptable demands" to withdraw Ukrainian forces from "huge swaths of territory" during the talks in Istanbul.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that if Russia continues to make "unrealistic demands" it will signal deliberate efforts to prolong the war, a move which should bring tougher international sanctions on Russia.