Five hundred Ukrainian defenders were recently returned from Russian captivity as a result of a large exchange under the 500 for 500 formula carried out by Ukraine and Russia. This is the largest exchange in the past six months. The last similar one on such a scale took place in the summer of 2025, when 1,000 Russians were exchanged for 1,000 Ukrainian defenders.
Throughout the last week, everyone had been anxiously awaiting news about their loved ones, since negotiations on exchanges usually take place in the Middle East and with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates. With the outbreak of war in Iran, many felt uncertain about further negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.
However, the exchange did take place, and in two stages.
“This is one of the largest exchanges since the 1,000 for 1,000 exchange,” says representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Petro Yatsenko.
On Thursday, March 5, 200 defenders of Ukraine were returned from captivity.
“Some of them have been in captivity since 2022, most since 2024, and a small number since 2025. These are people who defended the Kherson Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, and also defenders of Mariupol,” Yatsenko says.
The next day, Friday March 6 – another 300.
“It’s difficult to pull everyone out of captivity. Yes, we have a sufficient exchange fund, and the coordination headquarters is working so that exchanges take place. This one was carried out thanks to negotiations in Geneva,” Yatsenko continues.
From early in the morning, relatives of those in Russian captivity were present at the meeting place. Each hoped – this time – their loved one would be released.
Many people hold photographs of their relatives still in captivity or missing in action – they hope that those who are freed today might recognize someone waiting for them.
Minutes stretch into hours. Everyone is waiting for news from the border. Some people begin receiving messages on their phones from the coordination center – “your defender has been released from captivity.”
This is a moment of happiness.
For Khrystyna – she and her husband fled territories occupied by Russia, and he immediately went to fight in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He has been in captivity for almost two years. And this is not her first visit here.
“For 23 months he has been there!... The first news came when there was the 1,000 for 1,000 exchange in May, and before my birthday he congratulated me through a guy who returned from captivity. Every exchange I worry very much. I always wait – my heart literally squeezing. But this exchange, everything was different. I seemed sure – today I had a premonition, I was driving calmly” Khrystyna says.
Olesia from Kyiv region had not received any news from her captive husband Oleksandr for almost two years – only messages from others released from captivity saying that he is still alive.
“Oleksandr was captured on the front line on May 13, 2024. In July 2025 a man released from captivity returned and said that he had been imprisoned in the same cell with my husband. He said my Sasha very depressed and did not talk, although in life he is usually very sociable,” Olesia says.
And finally, she receives a call from an unknown number.
“Oh my God, my sunshine! I love you very, very much! Finally! My kitty, my sunshine, we are waiting for you sooooo much!” – Olesia cannot hold back her emotions.
She still cannot believe that she hears his voice and continues with her sister Anastasia to look at him in the first photos of those released from captivity published by government media.
“He is handsome and good looking. He’s standing on his own feet, what more do you need?!” says Anastasia, looking with her sister at the photo of her husband.
Likewise, Natalia has been waiting for her husband for two years from captivity; she came to the exchange site hundreds of kilometers away all the way from Odesa.
And finally — those very photos and that very phone call.
“My sweeety!!! We arrived and brought the sun and warmth with us, because yesterday it was cold, I was waiting for him yesterday and didn’t get to see him, but this morning I woke up and decided that today I will hug him! And now I will be hugging him!” — says Natalia.
She brought with her a pendant that depicts her and her husband Yurii — an assault soldier of the 25th Air Assault Brigade. She says he gave her the pendant two years ago, before he was taken prisoner.
“When he was leaving for the position, he gave me this gift so that I would remember that his heart is always with me,” the woman says.
It takes some time to get released defenders by buses from the exchange site to the meeting place. So people are waiting and cannot believe it happened.
People greet the buses with applause. Olesia meets her husband for the first time in two years.
“Is he there? There! Sasha! Sasha! My dear, oh, my dear!”
They are given only a little time to be together – all those released are waiting for thorough medical examinations.
“It’s hard, I worry about how he feels. About his health. Now I worry… He looks very thin, he even seems to have become shorter!” says Olesia after meeting her husband.
Oleksandr, despite looking exhausted, is unbroken.
“Well, it seems I didn’t lose too much weight, it’s normal!” he jokes.
At the same time, Yurii almost suffocates his wife in his embrace.
“How many times I imagined our meeting, my God! And the most interesting thing is how much I wanted to say at this moment, but all that came out was ‘I love you.’ I love him. Yurochka, I love you so much, you are my wings, you are my everything, until the end of my life. Please, know it,” Natalia shares her impressions after the meeting.
And nearby there are many who keep waiting and waiting for at least some news about their relatives — they are either in captivity or missing. They come here again and again with photographs of their relatives and hope that those released from captivity will recognize someone.
Natalia says she waited the same way and knew that her husband would return.
“He said: “I will return to you from anywhere”. And he kept his word. I knew, with every exchange where he wasn’t there — there was one exchange less left until his return, he was getting closer to me. And I want to advise everyone: never lose your hope,” the woman says.