Ukraine's security chief teases new prisoner swap with Russia
Photo: Rustem Umerov (facebook.com_zelenskyy.official)
Ukrainians will soon be informed of "certain results" regarding a prisoner exchange, stated National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov.
“In the near future, you will hear about certain results regarding the prisoner exchange. This is ongoing work that has been carried out since 2022," he said.
Russia delays prisoner exchanges
In December 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the prisoner exchange process with Russia had effectively stalled because Russia was slowing it down.
He said that Rustem Umerov had reached an agreement with the Russian side on a fairly large prisoner swap before the New Year, but Russia caused delays. As a result, the exchange between Ukraine and Russia did not take place.
In early January, Zelenskyy stressed that prisoner exchanges are an important and painful issue for Ukraine, which is why Russia deliberately slows them down. He added that such pauses serve as a form of pressure on Ukraine for Russia.
RBC-Ukraine previously reported that since the start of the full-scale war, more than 10,000 Russian servicemen have been taken prisoner in Ukraine. Among them, the number of foreign mercenaries is increasing.
On average, between 60 and 90 soldiers surrender to Ukrainian forces each week. Moreover, more soldiers from Russia were captured last year than in 2022 and 2023 combined.
