Ukraine and Russia Conduct Largest Prisoner Exchange, Zelensky Confirms

On Wednesday, March 19th, Ukrainian President Zelensky confirmed the largest prisoner exchange with Russia.

Zelensky announced on social media platform X that this exchange was one of the “largest in scale.” He added that 175 Ukrainian detainees had returned from Russian detention centers, and another 22 individuals were brought back through “measures other than exchange,” including severely injured soldiers.

He stated that all those released and returned home would immediately receive necessary medical and psychological assistance.

“This is one of the largest prisoner exchanges. The ones coming back home are our soldiers, sergeants, and officers – they are fighters from the armed forces, navy, national guard, territorial defense forces, and border guard troops, who fought for our freedom. They defended Ukraine on various fronts in Mariupol, Yasynuvata, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Kursk regions,” Zelensky said.

He expressed gratitude to the domestic team and all partners, especially the efforts of the United Arab Emirates, which made today’s prisoner exchange possible.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin had a phone call. Putin informed Trump that Russia and Ukraine would conduct a prisoner swap on March 19th, with 175 individuals being exchanged on each side. Additionally, as a goodwill gesture, 23 severely injured Ukrainian soldiers receiving treatment in Russian medical facilities would also be transferred.