Russia and Ukraine swap 307 soldiers on second day of POW exchange
Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 307 of their service personnel on Saturday on the second day of an extended prisoner swap set to be the largest in the three-year war.
U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested the swap—which should see 1,000 prisoners released on each side over three days—could herald a new phase in stop-start efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
Saturday’s swap was announced by Russia’s defence 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.”
The first part of the exchange took place on Friday when Russia and Ukraine each released 390 prisoners, including 120 civilians, and said they would free more in the coming days.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia would be ready to hand Ukraine a draft document outlining conditions for a long-term peace agreement once the current prisoner exchange was completed.
Saturday’s release took place a few hours after the Ukrainian capital was rocked by an overnight Russian bombardment using long-range drones and ballistic missiles, in which 15 people were injured.
