Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion on Ukraine, thousands of fighters have been traded, marking a rare instance of collaboration between Moscow and Kiev during almost three years of conflict.
According to both nations, Russia and Ukraine have each freed 25 POWs they had taken in the first exchange of 2025.
Twenty-five Russian soldiers who had been stationed in Kiev-controlled area were repatriated as a consequence of the negotiations. Russia’s defense ministry posted on Telegram on Wednesday that 25 Ukrainian servicemen had been turned over in exchange.
Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, thousands of fighters have been returned in hundreds of exchanges, marking a rare instance of collaboration between Moscow and Kiev following almost three years of conflict.
25 individuals are “returning home to Ukraine,” according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Among them are several who battled at the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol, a southern city that Russia took over in May 2022.
Some of those released, he said, were “civilians,” despite Russia’s claim that it had only released Ukrainian servicemen.
“We won’t give up.”
“Bringing our people home is what Ukraine is constantly working on, and we will not stop until we bring all of our people back,” Zelenskyy said in an article on X.
He released images of some of those released, such as a man sitting in a car with a Ukrainian flag in his hand and another man getting a medical examination.
According to Zelenskyy, “many of them have severe injuries and illnesses,”
Before returning to Russia, Russia said its soldiers were receiving “the necessary psychological and medical help” in Belarus, a close friend of Moscow.
Tatyana Moskalkova, the Russian human rights ombudswoman, shared a video of herself calling one man’s wife to inform him of the situation.
Another sobbed when he was on the phone with his mother.
According to both parties, the United Arab Emirates assisted in mediating the agreement.
