Russia and Ukraine carried out a prisoner-of-war exchange under a “205 for 205” formula. Irina Krynina, head of the public movement Our Way Out, told Novaya-Europe about the swap.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this was the first stage of a large-scale “1,000 for 1,000” exchange. According to him, most of the Ukrainian servicemen who returned home had been held captive since 2022.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the Russian servicemen released from captivity are currently in Belarus and will soon be taken to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation. The ministry also confirmed that this was the first part of a larger exchange.
Krynina said the servicemen who returned to Russia had spent no more than one year in captivity. According to her, 20% of them had been captured less than six months ago. She also said that more than half of those included in this exchange, 54%, had a criminal record or were under investigation when they signed their contracts.
“This raises a question for the Russian Defense Ministry: why were those whose relatives have been waiting for them to return from captivity for two, three, or even four years not included in the exchange lists that you submitted to Ukraine? And there are many such men in Ukrainian captivity,” Krynina said.
According to the head of Our Way Out, Russia is now seeking the return not of those who have spent the longest time in captivity or have injuries, but of those who, in her view, are easiest to send back to the front: healthy men with criminal records.