MOSCOW/CHERNIHIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -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 social media platform Telegram.
“Tomorrow we expect more,” Zelenskiy wrote. “Our goal is to return each and every one of us from Russian captivity.”
Images released by Zelenskiy’s office showed freed Ukrainian service personnel arriving in buses at a rendezvous point inside Ukraine, where they hugged each other and draped themselves in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags.
At least one of the released servicemen was in tears and was being consoled by a woman in military uniform. People assigned to greet the soldiers handed them cellphones, so they could call relatives. “I can’t believe I’m home,” one man said.
A short video released by the Russian defence ministry showed Russian service personnel disembarking from buses and posing with the Russian flag, as well as the flags of the Soviet Union and the Russian empire.
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.
The prisoner exchange was agreed at short-lived talks in Istanbul on May 16 between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, who had come together at the urging of Trump.
(Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
