Russia and Ukraine exchanged 205 prisoners of war each on Friday, Moscow’s defence ministry said, a week after US President Donald Trump announced a large swap would take place between the warring sides.
“205 Russian servicemen were returned from territory” controlled by Kyiv, the ministry said in a statement on social media, adding that “in exchange, 205 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war were transferred.”
Trump said last week that Russia and Ukraine would carry out a mutual swap of 1,000 prisoners as he announced a three-day US-brokered ceasefire that covered Russia’s May 9 parade celebrating the defeat of the Nazis.
Both sides have traded accusations of violating the truce and Ukraine has accused Moscow of ramping up its strikes against civilians after it expired, killing at least 24 in an air barrage on Kyiv on Thursday.
The POW swaps remain one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between the two sides, at war since Russia ordered troops into its neighbour in February 2022.
“The Russian servicemen are currently in the Republic of Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance,” Russia’s defence ministry said.
It added that “the United Arab Emirates provided humanitarian assistance during the return of the Russian servicemen from captivity.”
