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Russia and Ukraine exchanged 160 prisoners of war each on Friday in the latest swap between the two countries since the conflict began in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the released Ukrainian service members had all been held in Russian captivity since 2022.
“We continue bringing Ukrainians home from Russian captivity. Today, 160 service members were released,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
We continue bringing Ukrainians home from Russian captivity. Today, 160 servicemembers were released from captivity. All of them had been held captive since 2022.
Among those released today are servicemembers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service,… pic.twitter.com/f8ZDyEgJTb
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 26, 2026
He shared photographs showing the freed soldiers wrapped in Ukrainian flags as they reunited after their release.
Russia’s defence ministry also confirmed the exchange, saying 160 Russian service members had been returned in exchange for the same number of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
According to the ministry, the released Russian soldiers were taken to Belarus following the exchange.
The ministry added that the United Arab Emirates facilitated the prisoner swap.
Prisoner exchanges and the return of the remains of fallen soldiers have remained among the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
