Major prisoner swap with Russia may happen at Easter, Presidential Office says
Photo: Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine and Russia may carry out a large prisoner-of-war exchange at Easter. Ukrainian authorities are already working on it, said the head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, Kyrylo Budanov.
According to Budanov, efforts to return Ukrainian soldiers from Russian captivity are ongoing every day.
"Negotiations are ongoing, and new exchanges will take place. I very much hope that at Easter we will all see a large exchange," he said.
He emphasized that everything necessary will be done to make such an exchange happen.
When Easter is celebrated in 2026
The date of Easter is movable and is calculated each year using a special method (Paschalion), which takes into account the spring equinox and the first full moon after it.
Due to the use of different calendar systems, the dates for Orthodox and Catholic Christians often do not coincide.
In 2026, Roman Catholics and most Protestant communities will celebrate Easter on April 5.
Meanwhile, Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on Sunday, April 12.
Prisoner exchanges
Ukraine has recently conducted several prisoner exchanges with Russia.
In particular, on March 5 and 6, two stages of exchanges took place. During the first stage, 200 Ukrainian soldiers were returned home, and during the second, another 300.
Some of the soldiers had been held in Russian captivity since 2022.
As noted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a total of 8,669 Ukrainians have been freed from Russian captivity since the start of the full-scale war.
