BREAKING NEWS: Ukraine returns almost 400 military and civilians from captivity: details (photo)

It is reported that this is the first stage in the framework of a large “1000 for 1000” exchange.

Ukraine has returned 390 defenders from Russian captivity , President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Telegram .

“We are returning our people home. Today – 390 people. Thank you to everyone who helps, who works 24/7 to ensure that Ukrainians return home. It is very important to return everyone who is in captivity. We are checking every name, information on every person. Let’s continue our diplomatic work to make such steps possible,” he wrote.

The President noted that this is only the first stage of a large-scale prisoner exchange in the “1000 for 1000” format, which was agreed upon during a meeting of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul on May 16.

According to Zelensky, the next stages of the exchange are expected to take place in the coming days – on Saturday and Sunday.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners clarified that of those who returned home today, 270 are servicemen of the Defense Forces, and 120 are civilians.

It is noted that among the military there are representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular the Navy, the State Border Guard, the Territorial Defense Forces, as well as the National Guard of Ukraine and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. They defended the Ukrainian nation in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, Kherson directions, and also participated in battles in the Chernihiv, Sumy and Kyiv regions. Among those liberated today are 3 women and 387 men.

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Agreement on a major prisoner exchange

As UNIAN reported, on May 16, the first direct talks in three years between delegations of Ukraine and the Russian Federation on ending the war took place in Istanbul. No real progress was made on the path to peace, but the parties were able to agree on a large-scale exchange of prisoners based on the “thousand-for-a-thousand” formula.

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, previously stated that he expects a large-scale exchange this week .

Yesterday it became known that Ukraine has already handed over to the Russians a list of prisoners it would like to return as part of this exchange.

(c)UNIAN 2025