Ukraine's defense minister on new prisoner exchange: 'Results expected soon'
Photo: Defence Minister Rustem Umerov (facebook.com/zelenskyy.official)
Ukrainians are expected to hear "certain results" on a prisoner exchange in the near term, according to the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council during a national telethon.
"You are hearing certain results on the prisoner exchange in the near term. This is ongoing work that has been underway since 2022," he said.
Russia obstructs prisoner exchanges
In December 2025, Ukraine’s president stated that the process of prisoner exchanges with Russia had effectively stalled due to obstruction by the Russian side.
He said that the then–defense minister reached an agreement with Russia on a large-scale exchange before the New Year, but the process was deliberately delayed by Moscow. As a result, the exchange between Ukraine and Russia did not take place.
In early January, the Ukrainian president stressed that prisoner exchanges remain a critical and painful issue for Ukraine, which is precisely why Russia seeks to slow them down. He added that such pauses are used by Moscow as a tool of pressure.
According to previous reporting, more than 10,000 Russian servicemen have been taken prisoner in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, with the number of foreign mercenaries among them increasing.
On average, between 60 and 90 Russian forces surrender to Ukrainian defenders each week. Moreover, more Russian troops were captured last year than in 2022 and 2023 combined.
It was also reported earlier that Ukrainian forces captured a Russian serviceman linked to the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war last year in Russia’s Kursk region.
