President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is deliberately stalling prisoner-of-war (POW) exchanges in an attempt to pressure Ukraine, responding to a Kyiv Post question during an online press conference held via messenger on Wednesday, Jan. 7.
Since early October, no POW exchanges have taken place. Asked what caused the pause and whether Kyrylo Budanov’s new position would affect his role in the Coordination Headquarters for POW Affairs, Zelensky said the issue of exchanges remains a shared responsibility across key state institutions.
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“The Coordination Headquarters has been dealing with exchanges. Kyrylo Budanov was involved, the Security Service of Ukraine was involved, and the ex-head of the Office, Andriy Yermak, was involved,” Zelensky said.
“Anyone in this position must deal with this issue, because it is extremely important.”
Kyrylo Budanov, who previously served as head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR), has now been appointed head of the President’s Office while continuing to chair the Coordination Headquarters for POW Affairs.
He added that the new head of the President’s Office will also continue overseeing POW exchanges as part of Ukraine’s broader negotiating team, working alongside Defense Minister Denys Sĥmyhal.
Commenting on the prolonged pause, Zelensky said Moscow understands how sensitive the issue is for Ukraine and is using it as leverage.
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“The pause is clear. It is linked to Russia trying to put pressure on Ukraine,” he said.
“Ukraine is finding its own diplomatic pressure on Russia to end the war. Russia understands that prisoner exchanges are an important and painful issue for us, and that is why it is deliberately slowing everything down.”
Zelensky added that Ukraine will continue efforts to unblock the process.
“We will do everything to restore prisoner-of-war exchanges,” he said.
Ukraine returned more prisoners from Russian captivity in 2025 than in any previous year since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, following a series of exchanges enabled by political agreements and sustained coordination work, according to the country’s prisoner exchange authorities.
In total, 10 prisoner exchanges were carried out this year, alongside a major swap conducted under the first Istanbul agreements, which took place over three consecutive days and three stages, Andriy Yusov, deputy head of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) told Kyiv Post.
In addition, Ukraine and Russia conducted 10 separate stages of exchanges under the second set of Istanbul agreements, though the number and affiliation of those released were not disclosed.
You can read more about prisoner exchanges here.
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