Russia and Ukraine exchange 372 prisoners in large prisoners swap after Putin-Trump call

The prisoner swap has been brokered by the United Arab Emirates and Russia’s Defence ministry said that UAE used mediation efforts of “a humanitarian nature” to facilitate the deal.

According to reports, Russia and Ukraine exchanged 175 soldiers each but Moscow further returned “22 seriously wounded Ukrainian prisoners of war in need of urgent medical assistance”, said the Russian defence ministry.

Today is another day when Ukraine brings its people back. 175 of our defenders have been released from Russian captivity. Another 22 defenders are returning home through measures beyond exchanges. Among them are severely wounded warriors and those whom Russia persecuted for… pic.twitter.com/r8vI7BiYxn

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 19, 2025

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on X that the prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv was one of the largest of its kind and mentioned that the additional 22 Ukrainian soldiers who were released by Kremlin were “severely wounded warriors and those whom Russia persecuted for fabricated crimes.”

“All of them will immediately receive the necessary medical and psychological assistance,” Zelenskyy further added about the 22 injured Ukrainian soldiers.

Prisoner swap and exchange of remains of deceased soldiers have been the only means of cooperation between Russia and Ukraine since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Kyiv on February 24, 2022.

The Russian defence ministry, in an official statement said “All the Russian soldiers are in Belarus, where they are being provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance and given the opportunity to contact their relatives.”

Russia claimed that it returned 22 additional soldiers as a “gesture of goodwill”, however, Zelenskyy said that wounded Ukrainian soldiers had been returned “through measures outside of exchanges”.