MOSCOW/CHERNIHIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 307 of their service personnel on Saturday on the second day of an extended prisoner swap set to be the largest in the three-year war.
U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested the swap could herald a new phase in stop-start efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv. There should be 1,000 prisoners released on each side over three days.
Saturday’s swap was announced by Russia’s defence ministry, and separately by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a post on social media platform Telegram.
“Tomorrow we expect more,” Zelenskiy wrote. “Our goal is to return each and every one of us from Russian captivity.”
Reuters Television footage showed freed Ukrainian servicemen at a rendez-vous point inside Ukraine coming off buses draped in blue and yellow national flags as waiting family members chanted “Welcome!”
Serviceman Dmytro Havrylenko held his son, and his mother, in a very long embrace. “I am shocked to be honest,” he said. “These were 17 difficult months, very difficult. But everything is fine.”
Women held up photos of missing servicemen and gathered around returnees to ask about their whereabouts.
One woman, identifying herself as Yana, said no one had any news of her husband, missing since Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region last year.
“Maybe the boys will recognise his photo and share some information,” she said. “We’re here for the second day. Maybe today.”
Footage released by Zelenskiy’s office showed one released serviceman in tears and being consoled by a woman in military uniform. People assigned to greet the soldiers handed them cellphones, so they could call relatives. “I can’t believe I’m home,” one man said.
A short video released by the Russian defence ministry showed Russian service personnel disembarking from buses and posing with the Russian flag, as well as the flags of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.
The first part of the exchange took place on Friday when Russia and Ukraine each released 390 prisoners, including 120 civilians, and said they would free more in the coming days.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia would be ready to hand Ukraine a draft document outlining conditions for a long-term peace agreement once the current prisoner exchange was completed.
Saturday’s release took place a few hours after the Ukrainian capital was rocked by an overnight Russian bombardment using long-range drones and ballistic missiles, in which 15 people were injured.
The prisoner exchange was agreed at short-lived talks in Istanbul on May 16 between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, who had come together at the urging of Trump.
(Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Ron Popeski and David Gregorio)
