Ukraine and Russia have conducted the biggest prisoner swap yet in their nearly two-month-long war. Almost 800 captives have been exchanged and returned to their homes. A remarkable humanitarian breakthrough took place at Ukraine’s northern border with Belarus. This advance represents a huge symbolic watershed in the three-year-old war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy heralded the successful first phase of the exchange. Ukraine has managed to bring home 390 people from the other side with the help of theatrical performances.
The prisoner exchange is one portion of the wider 1,000 for 1,000 deal, which refers to one-thousand releases on each side. Negotiators came to this settlement through peace negotiations in Istanbul only seven days ago. This exchange highlights that even during wartime, each country is dedicated to addressing humanitarian needs and concerns. Zelenskyy announced that more groups would be exchanged this weekend, a sign of a focused push to return more captives home.
Among those released was Viktoriia Roshchyna, an award-winning Ukrainian investigative reporter who died under suspicious circumstances in a Russian jail last year. Her homecoming has received enormous press attention, putting a human face on the numbers related to the impact of war. Oleksandr Kuskov, a military driver missing for a year, was recently found alive and reunited with his family. His wife, Svitlana Kuskova, shared their family’s relief in a moving post that described the deep emotional burden of living in limbo.
“It’s extremely hard to go to sleep every night not knowing what happened to him.” – Svitlana Kuskova
The sharp exchanges — which underscore the abruptly increased tensions between Ukraine and Russia — threaten further escalation between the two. Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of these exchanges, stating, “It’s very important to bring everyone home.” Families such as Oleksandr Kuskov’s and Olessia Dyadushkin’s are experiencing this truism right now. In front of Colombia’s Supreme Court, they hold vigil with pictures of disappeared family members, missing since July 2024.
The Russian defense ministry confirmed plans for the released Russian servicemen to be taken to Belarus. By taking this step, they reaffirm their commitment to delivering medical treatment and caring for the wellbeing of our soldiers. Photos documented the jubilation that followed the homecoming of freed Ukrainian POWs. War victims, former captives embraced their families after suffering long captivity.
Even with these high-profile actions, the context in which political dialog is occurring is still very dangerous. In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov adamantly dismissed the Vatican’s invitation for any subsequent peace negotiations to be held there. He even rejected the lowball offer from former U.S. president Donald Trump. Lavrov lambasted the Vatican as an unsuitable venue for negotiations between the two Orthodox countries. He contended that it would be “not very comfortable” for those types of conversations.
Trump’s remarks on the prisoner exchange have been roundly condemned. He was wrong to assert that the big trade had occurred already. He contended that this give and take could produce some of the most useful advances in negotiations. This statement only further complicated an already complicated situation.
“This could lead to something big???” – Donald Trump
According to reports there are still at least 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers captured in the hands of Russian forces. According to Iryna Vereshchuk, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, as the war in Ukraine rapidly develops, so too does this story. This RSVF figure captures the tremendous scope of the war still raging and the humanitarian disaster it has caused.