Second Day of 1000-for-1000 Swap: Ukraine Returns 307 More POWs

Another 307 Ukrainian servicemen have returned home from Russian captivity as part of a large prisoner exchange in the 1000 for 1000 format, which the Ukrainian and Russian sides agreed on during talks in Istanbul.

The Gaze reports on this with reference to the posts of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on social media.

"The second day of the 1000-for-1000 exchange, which was agreed upon in Turkey. In these two days alone, 697 people have been returned. We expect it to continue tomorrow," the Ukrainian leader said.

According to him, among those who returned are soldiers of the Ukrainian army, the State Border Guard Service and the National Guard of Ukraine. Among those released are also operators of drones of the Unmanned Systems Forces.

According to the Coordination Headquarters, all 307 of the released prisoners are men. 

In the current exchange, 27 defenders of Mariupol are returning home.

In total, Ukrainians who fought in the Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk sectors are returning home.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defence said that it had also received 307 of its military personnel as part of the exchange. 

As The Gaze reported earlier, on 23 May, Ukraine and Russia carried out the first part of the 1000-for-1000 exchange agreement, under which Kyiv managed to return 390 people.

During the talks in Istanbul, Ukraine and Russia discussed the ceasefire and humanitarian issues, as well as a possible meeting at the level of leaders. In particular, they agreed to exchange prisoners in the format of ‘1000 for 1000’.