Prisoner exchange even as Ukraine suffers ‘night of terror’

As Russian and Ukraine continue to trade drone strikes, the two countries completed what is expected to be the largest prisoner swap of the war, with each side expected to get back 1000 people.

Ukrainian prisoners of war wrapped with national flags react following an exchange at an undisclosed location, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Picture: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/AFP

As Russian and Ukraine continue to trade drone strikes, the two countries completed what is expected to be the largest prisoner swap of the war, with each side expected to get back 1000 people.

Ukrainian and Russian officials said each side had received 270 military personnel and 120 civilians on Friday. On Saturday, 307 Russian prisoners of war were exchanged for the same number of Ukrainian soldiers, according to announcements in Kyiv and Moscow. The rest of the exchanges are scheduled to be completed by Sunday local time.

“Thank you to everyone who helps, who works 24/7 to ensure that Ukrainians return home,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media. “Let us continue our diplomatic work to make such steps possible.”

In a post on social media, Donald Trump, who has been pushing the warring sides to reach a ceasefire, celebrated it as a significant step. “Congratulations to both sides,” he wrote. “This could lead to something big???”

The exchange follows the first face-to-face negotiations – in Turkey this month – between Kyiv and Moscow in nearly three years, when Russia and Ukraine agreed to swap 1000 prisoners from each side and to continue discussions around a possible ceasefire.

Ukraine’s military said on Sunday it had shot down 45 Russian missiles and 266 attack drones overnight as Moscow launched a second straight night of major air strikes, killing at least 12 people in what Ukraine’s emergency services described a “night of terror”.

“Most regions of Ukraine were affected by the hostile attack. Enemy air strikes were recorded in 22 areas, and downed cruise missiles and attack UAVs (drones) fell in 15 locations,” the air force said.

Kyiv’s mayor said Russia’s attack on the city wounded at least 10 people, and he warned residents to stay in shelters. The capital was “under attack” but “air defences are operating”, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Sergiy Tyurin, the deputy head of the regional military administration for Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, said Russian strikes had killed four people on Saturday night (local time).

“Last night, the Khmelnytskyi region came under hostile Russian fire, which resulted in the destruction of civilian infrastructure … Unfortunately, four people were killed,”he said in a Telegram post.

In Moscow, restrictions were imposed on at least four airports, including the main hub Sheremetyevo, the Russian civilian aviation authority said.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 12 drones flying towards the Russian capital had been intercepted.

The two countries have swapped prisoners 64 previous times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, but an exchange of this scale would be the biggest. So far, however, it is the only tangible result from the latest discussions between the countries.

In a two-hour call with Mr Trump last Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to agree to an immediate 30-day ceasefire in the latest setback for Mr Trump’s efforts to bring an end to the three-year-old conflict. It was seen as a sign Putin isn’t ready to make concessions to Kyiv in the interests of a peace deal.

Ukraine has for months said it would agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Mr Trump has threatened more sanctions against Russia if it didn’t sign on to the ceasefire. So far, he has given no indication if or when more sanctions will follow.

In a call with European leaders last week, Mr Trump conceded Putin isn’t ready for peace, because he believes he is winning.

When buses full of Ukrainian soldiers began arriving in northern Ukraine, where families of prisoners of war were waiting, many with photos of loved ones, no one there knew if their own family members would be part of this exchange.

As the men began stepping off the bus, each with his head shaved and a Ukrainian flag draped over his shoulders, relatives screamed, sobbed and ran to embrace them.

Many of the men were emaciated, and the crowds sometimes remarked how little they resembled their pictures.

Andriy Mazur, 35, had spent more than three years in Russian custody. He had gone in at 75kg but now guessed he was almost 10kg lighter. “It was hell,” he said of his time in captivity, declining to go into more detail. Many Ukrainian soldiers returned in previous exchanges have complained of starvation and torture.

His son was born a few months after he was captured – the only contact he has had with him is a letter from his wife that included the boy’s handprint. “It feels like those years were stolen,” he said. “Like time folded and left me behind. My son is almost three, and I haven’t seen his eyes yet.”

Many of the released soldiers, such as Anatoliy Luts, borrowed phones to call their families. After dialling his sister’s number, he couldn’t speak, and only sobbed into the phone.

When the last prisoners stepped off the buses, the mood began to shift, as most of the assembled families realised their own relatives had not returned to Ukraine. They continued passing out cards and photos of loved ones, hoping someone had seen them in captivity and could, at least, confirm that they were still alive. “Maybe tomorrow,” one woman said to another.

The Wall Street Journal