24 May 2025 , 14:54
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Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 307 of their service personnel on Saturday, marking the second day of an extended prisoner swap expected to be the largest in the three-year war.
U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that the swap — which aims to release 1,000 prisoners on each side over three days — could signal a new phase in the intermittent efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
Saturday’s swap was announced by Russia’s defense ministry and separately by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a post on the social media platform Telegram.
"Tomorrow we expect more," Zelenskiy wrote. "Our goal is to return each and every one of us from Russian captivity."
Images released by Zelenskiy’s office showed freed Ukrainian service personnel arriving in buses at a rendezvous point inside Ukraine, where they embraced each other and wrapped themselves in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags.
At least one of the released servicemen was in tears and was being comforted by a woman in military uniform. People assigned to greet the soldiers gave them cellphones so they could call relatives. "I can’t believe I’m home," one man said.
A short video released by the Russian defense ministry showed Russian service personnel disembarking from buses and posing with the Russian flag, as well as the flags of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.
Head of Investigations