Ukraine has completed the third stage of a large-scale prisoner exchange with the Russian Federation under the formula ‘1000 for 1000’. According to this agreement, 303 Ukrainian defenders have returned from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on his Telegram.
This is reported by Kyiv24
“303 Ukrainian defenders are home. The third part of the exchange, which we managed to negotiate in Turkey, is complete”
, he emphasized.
Volodymyr Zelensky added that the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service are preparing for the return. The President expressed gratitude to the team that worked around the clock to ensure the successful implementation of this exchange and assured that each and every captive will definitely return home. “We will definitely bring back every one of them from Russian captivity”, Zelensky stressed.
Results and Process of the Exchange
According to the Security Service of Ukraine, this exchange was the result of coordinated efforts by the Joint Center for the Coordination of the Search and Release of Prisoners, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and other relevant structures that carried out the President’s directives. As part of the third stage, 33 defenders of ‘Azovstal’ were released, as reported by Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov on his Facebook.
In total, under the ‘1000 for 1000’ exchange agreement, 390 military personnel returned to Ukraine on May 23, and another 307 on May 24. This became possible thanks to negotiations in Istanbul that took place on May 16 between Kyiv and Moscow.
More details about the process and results of the exchange can be found in the reports from official sources and updates from Ukrainian military structures.