Ukraine and Russia start the biggest exchange of prisoners of war while Kremlin leaves a promise

Sergei Lavrov guarantees that Russia is ready to deliver Kiev a document with the conditions to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine

Russia and Ukraine have completed the first phase of what is expected to be the biggest change of prisoners since the beginning of the war, with the release of almost 800 people this Friday.

The exchange of prisoners will continue on Saturday and Sunday, predicting that Kiev and Moscow will change 2,000 people – 1,000 on each side.

The release agreement of 1,000 prisoners on each side was the only significant result of the meeting between Kiev and Moscow, held in Istanbul last week, which marked the first time that the two parts were directly since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“We are bringing our people home,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on social network X, adding that 390 people returned to Ukraine on Friday. According to Zelensky, the group includes 270 military personnel and 120 civilians.

According to the Ukrainian Coordination Center for the treatment of prisoners of war, three women and 387 men were among the released on Friday.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated in a statement that “270 Russian military and 120 civilians” were returned to Russia. The civilians were captured by the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, the Russian region where Ukraine launched a surprise raid last summer. Since then, Russia has recovered most of the territory.

However, Zelensky later said that Russian civilians returned by Ukraine were “Russian saboteurs and collaborators” who were arrested by Ukrainian agents.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has ensured that Russia is ready to deliver to Kiev a document with the conditions to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine. The draft of the document will be delivered as soon as the prisoners’ exchange process is completed, according to Russian state news agency Ria Novii, which quotes Lavrov.

As in the previous exchanges, the released prisoners were taken to a meeting place in various buses after being released by Russia on the Ukrainian border. On the border, many received flags and bracelets with the colors of Ukraine.

Photographs and videos released by the Ukrainian government show dozens of men dressed in military uniforms, most of them with their heads shaved, posing next to flags.

Several of the released men can be seen talking to their loved ones on the phone, some crying when he heard the voices on the other side.

A video shows people of villages along the train’s route to come out with flags, greeting the returned.

“I am happy because I’m home, that’s all. I’m happy for you, for us, for being here. We prayed and asked it to happen,” CNN Vasyl Gulyach told CNN, who spent two and a half years in captivity.

CNN also spoke to Anton Kobylnyk, a 29 -year -old who spent more than three years in captivity. “I’m yours, I received your letter,” he told his girlfriend Yulia on the phone. “What you did, waiting for me during these 37 months, is a great achievement and a priceless contribution to our relationship,” he told him.

At the same time, the Russian soldiers who were made prisoners by Ukraine were handed over to the Russian border authorities.

On the Ukrainian side, dozens of people waited for hours to greet the repatriads at a meeting point in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine, many of them hoping to see their families among those being brought back.

Many brought Ukrainian flags and photographs of their loved ones – in the case of any of the returned recognizing them and giving them information about their whereabouts.

While waiting, the air strike sirens sounded throughout Ukraine, indicating that a Russian attack could be imminent.

Thousands of Ukrainian civilians were kidnapped by the Russian authorities in Ukraine occupied and deported to Russia, where they were kept without accusation or trial.

Its statute is complicated: Once they were illegally detained, Ukraine considers them civil hostages. Russia has, in some cases, stated that they should be recognized as prisoners of war, something Kiev has been reluctant to do because he could put civilians living in Ukraine’s occupied areas at risk of arbitrarily detained.

An agreement reached at the Istanbul meeting

Ukrainian and Russian authorities should not publicly declare that the agreement was underway before it was completed. However, US President Donald Trump broke this convention on Friday, announcing the exchange on social networks as it was unfolding.

Istanbul’s meeting was initially proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, in response to an ultimatum of ceasefire or sanctions given to Moscow by Kiev’s European allies – which many saw as a clear attempt by Kremlin leader to distract and delay.

But while the return of hundreds of Ukrainian detainees is a huge relief for their families and loved ones, it remains a bit of a bit of a disappointing as the sole tangible result of the much -spoken meeting.

In his usual speech to the nation, Zelensky said this prisoners’ exchange is the “only significant result” of last week’s meeting in Turkey, adding that Russia was blocking “everything else.”

Prisoners’ exchanges have happened regularly, the last of which earlier this month.

The Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of War Prison said that the May 7th exchange, which saw more than 200 Ukrainian military to return home, was this year’s fifth exchange and 64th since the big -scale invasion of Russia.

The department stated at the time that 4,757 Ukrainian citizens were released since March 2022.

Ukraine and its allies demanded that Russia would accept an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Istanbul, but this did not happen.

Kiev also proposed direct conversations between Zelensky and his Russian homologist Vladimir Putin.