{"id":150715,"date":"2025-05-23T15:23:58","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T15:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-zelensky-shares-photos-of-prisoner-swap-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T15:23:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T15:23:58","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-zelensky-shares-photos-of-prisoner-swap-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-zelensky-shares-photos-of-prisoner-swap-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: Zelensky shares photos of prisoner swap – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Ukrainian president said 390 prisoners were returned on Friday, with more to follow over the weekend
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Volodymyr Zelensky declared Ukraine<\/a> was \u2018bringing out people home\u2019 after the first stage of a large-scale prisoner swap took place.
The Ukrainian president said 390 prisoners were returned on Friday, with more to follow over the weekend in the \u20181,000-for-1,000\u2019 prisoner of war swap agreed with Russia <\/a>in the first direct talks between the two countries in Turkey <\/a>last week.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the countries swapped 270 prisoners of war and 120 civilians with each other, making it the largest such exchange in the whole of the three-year conflict.<\/a>
The POW exchange came after Kyiv\u2019s former military chief turned ambassador to the UK <\/a>warned that Ukraine must abandon dreams of regaining all territory lost to Russia<\/a>.
Valery Zaluzhnyi, 51, suggested the only way Ukraine could regain its land would be through a \u201cmiracle\u201d <\/a>and Ukraine was unlikely to regain the borders it had in 1991 or even 2022.
Zelensky and other public figures have long called for the eviction of Russian forces and a return to the 1991 borders, including Crimea.
But as efforts over recent months have focused on launching talks to secure a ceasefire, public statements by Kyiv have been more moderate on the question of ceding territory.
Moscow has confirmed Russia and Ukraine exchanged 390 prisoners each on Friday.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the countries swapped 270 prisoners of war and 120 civilians with each other, making it the largest such exchange in the whole of the three-year conflict.
It\u2019s the first step in the 1,000 for 1,000 people swap agreed to in Istanbul on May 16.
The ministry said Kyiv released civilians that Ukraine\u2019s military had captured win Russia\u2019s Kursk region.
The freed Russian soldiers and civilians were in Belarus, and would receive psychological and medical assistance there before returning to Russia, the ministry said.
The first stage of an agreement between Ukraine and Russia to exchange 2,000 prisoners of war has been successfully completed.
Ukraine\u2019s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the first 390 Ukrainian \u201cdefenders\u201d were now \u201csafely back home\u201d.
\u201cPresident Zelenskyy emphasised that Ukraine continues to honour every agreement and work tirelessly for the return of all our people,\u201d she said on X.
\u201cEvery life matters. Every name is remembered. We keep working \u2014 until everyone is free.\u201d
Ukrainian prisoners of war are seen after a swap at an unknown location in Ukraine.
Ukraine\u2019s president said 390 Ukrainian prisoners were returned today, the first stage of the exchange of 2,000 POWs between Russia and Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky has announced the first stage of the \u201c1000-for-1000\u201d prisoner swap has been successfully completed.
\u201cWe are bringing our people home,\u201d he said on X.
\u201cToday \u2013 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the exchange to continue.
\u201cThank you to everyone who is helping and working 24\/7 to bring Ukrainian men and women back home. It is very important to return everyone who remains in captivity. We are verifying every surname, every detail about each person.\u201d
Russia and Ukraine have swapped 270 prisoners of war (POW) and 120 civilians with each other, the Russian defence ministry said on Friday.
The exchange will continue in the coming days, the ministry said.
Ukraine\u2019s air force has released details of the latest Russian aerial attack.
They reported that Russia fired 175 attack drones overnight, as well as one Iksander ballistic missile.
The air force claimed they downed 150 drones; they shot down 91 and used electronic warfare to jam 59. This means that they felled 84 per cent of the drones fired by Russia.
At least nine regions of Ukraine suffered at least some damage.
Missile and drone monitoring groups this morning said Russia fired two more Iksanders at the southern region of Odesa.
The European Union\u2019s foreign policy chief said Thursday that membership candidate Serbia faces a \u201cstrategic choice\u201d of direction, just weeks after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic<\/a> defied EU warnings and attended Russia\u2019s Victory Day parade in Moscow.
\u201cSerbia faces a strategic, geostrategic choice, where it wants to be,” Kaja Kallas<\/a> said during her visit to Belgrade. \u201cSerbia\u2019s European future depends on the values it chooses to uphold.\u201d
A former Ukrainian commander and ambassador to the UK said Ukraine should abandon hope of regaining all territory lost to Russia.
Valery Zaluzhnyi said in a speech that Ukraine could not dream of restoring its 1991 borders which were established when Soviet rule collapsed, or even the borders held before Russia invaded in 2022.
“I hope that there are not people in this room who still hope for some kind of miracle or lucky sign that will bring peace to Ukraine, the borders of 1991 or 2022, and that there will be great happiness afterward,” Zaluzhnyi said in a speech published by the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet on Friday.
“My personal opinion is that the enemy still has resources, forces and means to launch strikes on our territory and attempt specific offensive operations.\u201d
Zaluzhnyi was the head of Ukraine\u2019s armed forces until he was replaced in February 2024 after months of reported disagreements between himself and Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky\u2019s office did not immediately comment on Zaluzhnyi\u2019s remarks.
Russia occupied the Crimea peninsula in 2014, and its armed forces now control about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian authorities have told reporters to gather at a spot in the northern Chernihiv region, ahead of an expected prisoner swap.
The prisoner swap is expected to be the largest of the war after Russia and Ukraine agreed to trade 1,000 prisoners of war each during their first direct talks in three years last week.
Ukrainian authorities told reporters to assemble at a location, where it\u2019s anticipated some freed prisoners would be taken.
A Ukrainian military source said the swap was still under way, however Russian state media had not yet reported the exchange was ongoing and the Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia and Ukraine each agreed after two hours of talks in Istanbul last week to swap 1,000 prisoners, but failed to agree to a ceasefire proposed by US President Donald Trump.
The prisoner swap was the only concrete step towards peace agreed to during those talks.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz asked Chinese president Xi Jinping for support in achieving a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine, Merz’s spokesperson said after the two leaders held a call on Friday.
\u201cThe federal chancellor reported on the joint efforts of Europe and the US to achieve an early ceasefire. He called for support for these efforts,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement.
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