Ukraine has secured the return of 193 prisoners of war (POWs) in a new exchange with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, April 24.
The released servicemen include members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, the National Police, and the State Special Transport Service.
“They defended Ukraine on different fronts,” Zelensky said in a Telegram post, adding that some of those freed had been wounded, while others had faced criminal charges initiated by Russia.
“It is important that exchanges continue and that our people return home,” he said, thanking all those involved in facilitating the swap, including frontline units contributing to what Kyiv calls an “exchange fund.”
According to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the latest swap was the 73rd since the start of the full-scale invasion and continued agreements reached during a previous Easter exchange.
Officials said many of those released had been illegally held in Russia’s Chechnya region, with some subjected to fabricated criminal cases in violation of the Geneva Conventions. The exchange also included younger servicemen born in the 2000s, as well as wounded troops, and several officers among those freed.
Zelensky also expressed gratitude to international partners supporting the process and reaffirmed that Ukraine continues working daily to bring all captives home.
Ukraine had signaled that a new prisoner exchange with Russia was imminent.
Earlier, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, said Kyiv expected another swap in the near future, noting that such exchanges are often delayed by logistical and legal procedures on both sides.
He also indicated that a large-scale exchange could take place around the Easter period.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, prisoner exchanges have remained one of the few areas of continued контакту between the two sides, despite ongoing hostilities.
On April 11, Ukraine and Russia carried out a prisoner swap that resulted in the release of 175 Ukrainian service members and seven civilians.
The exchange has come as a “holiday gift” for many families during the Orthodox Easter period, reflecting Zelensky’s earlier hope that the holiday would serve as a time for “silence and security.”