On June 9, Russia and Ukraine exchanged the first soldiers in a swap of POWs under the age of 26. Both sides shared videos on social media showing the freed servicemen, but the exact number of prisoners exchanged on Monday remains unclear.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the start of the prisoner exchange, explaining it will continue over the next several days in stages. The returning POWs include wounded soldiers and men under the age of 26. “The process is quite complex, with many sensitive details, and negotiations continue virtually every day,” Zelensky wrote on his official Telegram channel.
Since resuming direct negotiations in Istanbul last month, Russia and Ukraine have agreed on little, except for large prisoner swaps. On June 2, Moscow promised to transfer the bodies of some 6,000 fallen Ukrainian soldiers. Both sides also pledged to exchange severely wounded POWs and prisoners under the age of 26. That exchange was originally supposed to occur on June 7 and 8, but mutual recriminations between Moscow and Kyiv delayed the process.