This latest exchange involved 150 POWs in total and was facilitated by the United Arab Emirates, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. Both sides have accused each other of causing delays in the swaps. Ukraine has advocated for an "all for all" exchange, with weekly rallies calling for the release of POWs. Vitalii Matviienko, an official coordinating the exchanges, stated that "Ukraine is always ready."
Russia’s human rights ombudsperson, Tatyana Moskalkova, accused Kyiv of making "new artificial demands" without providing details.
Among those returned was Roman Onyschuk, an IT worker turned volunteer soldier, who was captured in March 2022 in the Kharkiv region. He spent over 800 days in captivity without any communication with his family. He expressed his longing to hear his wife and son's voices, having missed his son's last three birthdays.
Another returnee, Dmytro Kantypenko, was captured on Snake Island in the early days of the war. After returning, he learned that his wife and son had fled to Lithuania. He emotionally recounted the moment he called his mother to inform her of his return.
Reports from the U.N. based on post-release interviews indicate that the majority of Ukrainian POWs experience routine medical neglect, severe mistreatment, and even torture. There have also been isolated reports of abuse of Russian soldiers, mainly during capture or transit.
The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs reported that at least one-third of the returning Ukrainians suffered from severe injuries, illnesses, or disabilities. The returned POWs included 19 fighters from Snake Island, 14 people captured at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and 10 fighters from Mariupol. Among them were five women, including Nataliia Manuilova, a cook in the Azov regiment, who was taken from her home in Mariupol over two years ago. She described her ordeal and expressed relief and disbelief at seeing her grown son.
The returning POWs traveled through small villages to Sumy, where they were welcomed by cheering Ukrainians waving blue and yellow flags. They will undergo two weeks of rehabilitation in hospitals.
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