KYIV: Russia and Ukraine have each released 25 captured prisoners of war in the first exchange of 2025, both countries said Wednesday.
Thousands of fighters have been returned in dozens of exchanges since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a rare form of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv after nearly three years of fighting.
“As a result of the negotiation process, 25 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In return, 25 Ukrainian servicemen were handed over,” Russia’s defence ministry said on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 25 people were “returning home to Ukraine”, including some who fought at the Azovstal steel plant in the southern city of Mariupol, captured by Russia in May 2022.
He said some of those released were “civilians,” though Russia said it had released only Ukrainian soldiers.
“Bringing our people home is what Ukraine is constantly working on, and we will not stop until we bring all of our people back,” Zelensky said in a post on X.
He published photos of some of those freed, including a man receiving a medical check and one sitting in a vehicle clutching a Ukrainian flag.
“Many of them have severe injuries and illnesses,” Zelensky said.
Russia said its soldiers were being given “the necessary psychological and medical help” in Belarus, Moscow’s close ally, before their return to Russia.
Russian human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova published a video of her calling the wife of one man to share the news.
Another cried as he spoke to his mother on the phone.
The United Arab Emirates helped mediate the deal, both sides said.
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