The latest prisoner swap was mediated by the United Arab Emirates and the US, the ministry said
Russia and Ukraine have conducted a prisoner of war exchange involving nearly 200 servicemen from each side, the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced on Friday. The United Arab Emirates and the US provided mediation, the ministry said.
In a statement on Friday, the MOD announced that “193 Russian servicemen have been returned from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime” and in exchange, the same number of Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners were also transferred.
The Russian soldiers are currently in Belarus and are receiving psychological and medical assistance. They will later be transported to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation.
The previous POW exchange took place earlier this month during a temporary ceasefire for Orthodox Easter. The two sides exchanged 175 service members each. The swap also involved the return of seven civilians from Kursk Region, said to have been the last hostages taken in the Ukrainian incursion last year.
Since the resumption of direct Russia-Ukraine talks in May 2025, the two countries have regularly carried out exchanges of POWs, as well as of the bodies of fallen troops.
The largest such swap came shortly after talks resumed, when Moscow and Kiev agreed to exchange up to 1,000 prisoners each in a deal implemented in several stages the same month.
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