270 Soldiers and 120 Civilians Return to Russia After Istanbul-Brokered Exchange

As part of the prisoner exchange with Ukraine, 270 military personnel and 120 civilians have returned to Russia, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. An equal number of military personnel and civilians were handed over to Kyiv.

The agreement was reached during direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on May 16. The deal was first announced by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and later confirmed by Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. Both led their respective delegations at the meeting. According to Umerov, the sides agreed on the date of the exchange, but neither Russia nor Ukraine disclosed it in advance. It was later reported that the exchange would take place in several stages.

Immediately after the talks, Russia and Ukraine began compiling lists of prisoners for the exchange. Following a meeting of the coordination council, Umerov submitted the plan to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 19.

Ankara proposed the idea of a prisoner exchange after the Istanbul negotiations reached a deadlock. The breakdown occurred when Russia demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DNR and LNR), as well as from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, in the context of a ceasefire discussion.

DNR, LNR, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions were incorporated into Russia in the fall of 2022 following referendums held there. As of March 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Moscow controlled 99% of the LNR and over 70% of the DNR, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. A year earlier, he had listed the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from these areas as a condition for a ceasefire. Ukraine has repeatedly refused to recognize Russian sovereignty over these four regions or over Crimea.

During the talks, both sides agreed to exchange views on a "potential future ceasefire” and to put it down "in detail.” According to Umerov, the next step should be a meeting between Zelensky and Putin. The Kremlin has said such a meeting is possible as the result of the delegations' work. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that for Moscow, a key issue is who on the Ukrainian side would guarantee the agreement.

Until now, the largest prisoner exchange since the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine had taken place on April 19, 2025, on the eve of Easter. At that time, Moscow and Kyiv returned 246 servicemen each. The day before, the sides had also exchanged the bodies of fallen soldiers — Ukraine received 909 bodies, and Russia 41.

Russia and Ukraine Will Continue Exchanging POWs

The large-scale prisoner exchange initiated by Russia will continue in the "coming days,” according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

On Friday, March 23, an exchange took place in which 270 soldiers and 120 civilians, including those captured during the Ukrainian Armed Forces' incursion into Russia's Kursk region, returned to Russia. The same number of individuals were handed over to the Ukrainian side.

Currently, the prisoners and civilians transferred by Kyiv are on the territory of Belarus, where they are receiving necessary psychological and medical assistance.