Another stage of the prisoner exchange took place between Ukraine and Russia.
The Russian Ministry of Defense was the first to report the exchange. As in previous stages, the number of exchanged prisoners is not disclosed, only indicating that the exchange was parity.
Russian servicemen are on the territory of Belarus, where they are receiving necessary psychological and medical assistance, all Russian servicemen will be transported for treatment and rehabilitation to medical facilities of the Ministry of Defense, the statement notes.
The exchange was also confirmed by Volodymyr Zelensky. "We continue the exchanges, another stage. Today, warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service are returning. Most of them have been in captivity since 2022. We are doing everything to find everyone, to verify information for each name," Zelensky wrote.
According to the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, among the returned military are fighters of the territorial defense, motorized infantry brigades, marine infantry, and airborne assault troops, as well as defenders of Mariupol. The oldest released is 62 years old, the youngest is 24 years old.
During the first round of negotiations in Istanbul on May 16, Ukraine and Russia agreed on a large-scale prisoner exchange in the format "1000 for 1000." It took place in three stages from May 23 to May 25.
Already as a result of the second round of negotiations in Turkey on June 2, the parties agreed on a new large-scale exchange of severely wounded and seriously ill prisoners, as well as prisoners of war aged 18 to 25.
Before today's exchange, several exchanges had already been conducted under the new agreements — on June 9, 10, 12, 14, 19, and 20. The parties promised to report the number of military personnel involved in the exchange after its completion.