Russia and Ukraine conduct prisoner exchange of wounded soldiers

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged an undisclosed number of wounded and ill prisoners of war, marking a rare humanitarian gesture amid continued hostilities.

The exchange, which took place on Tuesday, follows a preliminary swap a day earlier involving prisoners under the age of 25.

The agreement was reached during peace talks held last week in Turkey — a diplomatic effort that, so far, has yielded few concrete outcomes apart from prisoner exchanges.

"Today marks the first stage of the return of our seriously wounded and injured soldiers from Russian captivity. All of them require immediate medical attention. This is an important humanitarian act," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram. He added that further exchanges are planned.

Footage released by Ukrainian military intelligence showed returning prisoners draped in Ukrainian flags, some chanting “Glory to Ukraine” as they disembarked from a bus at an undisclosed location. 

Many were visibly injured, with reported cases of amputations, infections and severe trauma.

Due to security concerns, Ukraine said it would announce the number of released individuals only after the process had been fully completed.

Russia’s defence ministry confirmed that its returning soldiers were currently in Belarus and would be transferred to Russian territory for medical treatment and rehabilitation.

While ceasefire efforts remain stalled, these prisoner exchanges have become the most tangible outcomes of renewed negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. Last month saw the largest swap of the war so far, with 1,000 captives exchanged by both sides.

At their most recent meeting, the two parties also agreed in principle to return the bodies of fallen soldiers — potentially numbering in the thousands — although that process has yet to be carried out.