Ukraine and Russia carry out a prisoner exchange in which 185 Ukrainian service members and one civilian are returned to Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. The swap is described as the 75th exchange between the countries. Ukrainian reporting says the released group includes defenders associated with the 2022 siege of Mariupol and the Azovstal steelworks. It also highlights reunions of family members captured in 2022, with a father and son returned after being detained at different times.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy states that the majority of those returned have been in Russian captivity since 2022 and that Russia releases an equal number of Ukrainians and Ukrainian civilians: 185 service personnel are exchanged from each side, with Russia returning one civilian as part of the latest swap. Another detail reported is that one of the oldest Ukrainians returned is 62 years old.
Overall, both sides characterize the exchange as an ongoing, large-scale process to swap detainees and POWs, with each side reporting the number of released individuals and the approximate timeframes of captivity for many of those recovered.
