Russia, Ukraine begin large prisoner exchange, expected to continue in coming days
LONDON -- Russia and Ukraine have begun a large exchange of prisoners of war on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said, with around 1,000 soldiers from each side expected to be swapped at the Ukraine-Belarus border when completed.
There have been 270 Russian soldiers and 120 Russian civilians swapped for 270 Ukrainian soldiers and 120 Ukrainian civilians on Friday, according to the defense ministry. The exchange is expected to continue "in the coming days," Russia said.
"We are bringing our people home," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. "The first stage of the '1000-for-1000' exchange agreement has been carried out."
"Thank you to everyone who is helping and working 24/7 to bring Ukrainian men and women back home," he continued. "It is very important to return everyone who remains in captivity. We are verifying every surname, every detail about each person. We will continue our diplomatic efforts to make such steps possible."
The Russian soldiers and civilians were in Belarus, "where they are being provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The exchange was prepared following bilateral peace talks in Istanbul last week.
Though the meeting -- the first direct talks between the combatants since the spring of 2022 -- failed to result in a ceasefire, the two sides did agree to Friday's prisoner swap.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that once the swap is complete, Russia will hand over a draft "outlining the conditions for achieving a sustainable, long-term, comprehensive settlement agreement," according to Russian state media.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Friday that Ukraine is committed to a ceasefire and called the exchange the "first stage."
"We achieved 1,000 for 1,000. After this, if it will be successful, as I said first is exchanges, second is the ceasefire," he said.
Such exchanges have taken place throughout Russia's 3-year-old invasion, though the swap -- once completed -- will be by far the largest to date. Prisoner exchanges are one of the few areas in which Moscow and Kyiv have been able to reach an accord during the conflict.
President Donald Trump also held a high-stakes phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, saying afterward that Russia and Ukraine will "immediately" start negotiations toward a ceasefire. Trump said he also spoke with Zelenskyy after the call with Putin.
Fierce fighting and long-range drone exchanges continued regardless -- and despite continued U.S.-led efforts to produce a ceasefire agreement.
Russia carried out a "large-scale aerial attack" on Ukraine overnight Friday using 175 drones and one ballistic missile, the Ukrainian air force said.
Ukrainian air defenses neutralized 150 of those Russian drones, but damage was reported in the Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Odesa, Chernivtsi, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, according to the Ukrainian air force.
Ukraine's air force on Wednesday reported 76 Russian drones launched into the country overnight, of which 63 were shot down or lost in flight without causing damage. The air force reported damage in four Ukrainian regions.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces downed at least 162 Ukrainian drones overnight.
ABC News' Natalia Popova and Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report.
