Ukraine carries out new prisoner swap with Russia

Fri, April 24, 2026 - 16:32

4 min

This is already the 73rd prisoner exchange

Mariya Kucheryavets

Daryna Vialko

Ukraine carries out new prisoner swap with Russia

Photo: a new prisoner swap took place between Ukraine and Russia (t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official)

Ukraine has brought back another group of servicemen as part of a new prisoner swap with Russia. A total of 193 fighters have been returned home from captivity.

What is known about the new exchange is outlined in the RBC-Ukraine report below.

As usual, the swap was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"193 Ukrainian warriors are returning home as part of a prisoner exchange," the head of state said.

According to him, those returning include personnel from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, the National Police, and the State Special Transport Service.

"They defended Ukraine on various fronts. Among them are those against whom Russia has initiated criminal proceedings, as well as the wounded," the President added.

Zelenskyy thanked everyone involved in making such exchanges possible. In particular, he referred to the servicemen who help replenish the exchange fund.

Photo: Ukrainian defenders have returned home from Russian captivity (t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official)

"We remember each and every one and continue working every day to bring our people home from Russian captivity," he stressed.

Details from Budanov

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the second stage of the Easter prisoner-of-war exchange took place today.

Photo: Ukrainian soldiers have returned from captivity (https://t.me/Kyrylo_Budanov_Official)

"Many young Ukrainian servicemen born in 2000 are now free — both soldiers and officers who defended our country across all sectors of the front. Some are wounded. A part of those released had been held illegally in Chechnya," he added.

Budanov also separately congratulated two freed Ukrainian servicemen who are celebrating their birthdays today.

"Vadym! Ivan! I wish you a speedy recovery and strong health! Thank you for your service and for defending Ukraine!" he wrote.

Budanov also thanked partners from the United States and the UAE for their assistance in organizing the exchange.

Prisoner swaps with Russia

The previous exchange took place on April 11, on the eve of Easter, and was the 72nd in total. At that time, 175 servicemen and 7 civilian Ukrainians were returned home.

A key feature of that exchange was that nearly all those freed, both military personnel and civilians, had been held in captivity since 2022. Ukraine managed to secure the release of 25 officers whom Russia had previously refused to exchange.

Most of the freed defenders had been captured during the defense of Mariupol. Several National Guard servicemen who were taken captive during the occupation of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in the early days of the full-scale invasion also returned home.

Among the released servicemen were representatives of the Navy, Ground Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, Air Assault Forces, Military Law Enforcement Service, Air Force, Special Operations Forces, as well as the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service.

According to Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, Ukraine had planned to bring back more people during the Easter exchange, but Russia refused.

In February, President Zelenskyy said that Russia is currently holding up to 7,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Ukraine, for its part, holds around 4,000 Russian prisoners.

Meanwhile, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated that more than 95% of Ukrainians held in Russian captivity are subjected to systematic torture, and as of the end of 2025, 337 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been deliberately and brutally executed by Russian forces.

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War in Ukraine Russia POW Ukrainian Armed Forces