Ukraine Returns 303 More Soldiers in Third Round of Prisoner Exchange

Ukraine has secured the release of 303 more servicemen as part of the third phase of the “1,000 for 1,000” prisoner exchange with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Saturday.

“303 Ukrainian defenders are home. The third stage of the ‘1,000 for 1,000’ exchange, agreed in Turkey, has been completed,” Zelenskyy said.

The latest exchange follows the return of 307 servicemen on May 24 and 390 on May 23. All three rounds are part of a broader agreement brokered in Turkey, marking the sixth exchange this year and the 65th since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Preparations for the large-scale swap began on May 17, when Ukraine’s Security Service (SSU) announced it had drawn up a list of Russian prisoners eligible for return.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed that those freed include troops from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, specifically the Navy, Air Force, Air Assault Forces, Territorial Defense, and also members of the National Guard, Border Guard, and State Special Transport Service.

All 303 individuals released on Saturday are men, either enlisted or non-commissioned officers.

They had served in combat zones across the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions. They include 70 defenders of Mariupol.

Since March 2022, the Coordination Headquarters has helped free 5,757 Ukrainians through official exchanges. Another 536 were released outside the formal exchange framework.

The “1000 for 1000” three-day exchange was the sixth exchange this year and the 65th since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

The newly freed servicemen will receive full medical care and rehabilitation, along with financial support for the time spent in captivity and a one-time payment.

In January 2025, Ukraine introduced an online service allowing relatives of POWs, missing servicemen, and unlawfully detained civilians to check the status of their loved ones.

Previously available only through written requests, the data can now be accessed via a personal account.