Ukraine and Russia exchange POWs in latest swap

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) stand after a swap, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an unknown location in Ukraine, June 19, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

KYIV  -  Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war on Thursday, officials from both countries said, the latest round of swaps under an agreement struck in Istanbul.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted images of the freed Ukrainian troops, smiling and draped in the national flag, most of whom had been held captive since the early months of Russia's February 2022 invasion, he said.

The Ukrainian POWs exchanged on Thursday were sick or injured, according to Kyiv's coordinating council for POWs. The Russian POWs would also be sent for treatment and rehabilitation, Moscow's defence ministry said.

Neither Ukraine nor Russia, whose talks on ending the war have yielded few results besides the exchange of prisoners or remains, provided an exact figure of how many POWs had been exchanged.

 (Reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Alison Williams // REUTERS)