May 25, 2025, 12:40 p.m.
(Photo: Odesa City Hall)
The final stage of the large-scale exchange of prisoners in the thousand-for-thousand format took place on May 25, with 303 prisoners returning to Ukraine.
According to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, all 303 of the liberated Defenders are men, privates and sergeants.
The liberated Defenders defended Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk sectors, in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions, in Kherson, Sumy and Chernihiv regions. 70 Mariupol defenders are returning home.
On May 24, the second stage of a large prisoner exchange with the Russian Federation in the format of "1000 for 1000" took place, and 307 defenders returned to Ukraine.
On May 23, the first stage of a large prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia took place. The exchange is conducted in a 1000-for-1000 format and will last three days. Then 307 prisoners returned - 270 military and 120 civilians.
On May 16, 2025, the first talks between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia in three years took place in Istanbul. As a result of the meeting, the parties agreed to exchange prisoners in the "1000 for 1000" format.
On May 6, Ukraine and Russia also exchanged prisoners of war, and 205 of our defenders, including 40 soldiers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, returned home.
Before that, a large exchange took place on April 19, on the eve of Easter. Then 277 Ukrainian defenders returned home.
According to the headquarters, the three-day exchange of thousands for thousands was the sixth exchange this year and 65 since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. In total, 5757 Ukrainian citizens have been released by the Coordination Headquarters as part of the negotiation process and exchanges since March 2022. Another 536 Ukrainians were returned outside of the exchanges.
Кирило Бойко