“Mummy!” a Ukrainian soldier can be heard saying in an emotional video. Crying as he puts his cap down, he adds: “I was released, Mum! We were part of a prisoner exchange. “We are home! In Ukraine! I love you, Mum.”
On March 18, a one-for-one prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia was agreed upon after a call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. One day later, a video showed a Ukrainian prisoner of war calling his mother after being released as part of the exchange. The video, from one of the largest prisoner exchanges since the full-scale invasion, was shared by Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets. The 62nd prisoner exchange saw Russia and Ukraine each releasing 175 prisoners of war.
The freed Ukrainian servicemen had been captured while defending multiple regions, including Mariupol, the Azovstal steel plant, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Kursk.
Lubinets also shared a video of a freed defender celebrating his birthday upon arrival. The soldier had turned 27 just before being released.
In another video interview with Radio Free Europe, a reporter told a released prisoner that he didn’t need to keep his hands behind his back.
“Sorry, that’s a slave’s habit,” he answered.
“We’ve been beaten and humiliated for three years.
“I’m very happy, but I still don’t believe all this.”
Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has secured the return of 4,306 prisoners of war from Russian captivity, according to Zelensky. In 2024 alone, Ukraine reportedly brought back 1,358 prisoners.
According to Petro Yatsenko, head of the press office at Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of prisoners of war, the exchanges require months of careful planning.
“We are bringing back soldiers, sergeants, and officers – warriors who fought for our freedom in the ranks of the Armed Forces, the Navy, the National Guard, the Territorial Defence Forces, and the Border Guard Service,” said Zelensky.
All those who have returned will receive immediate medical and psychological assistance, Zelensky stated in a message on Telegram.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said that the Russian soldiers freed in the exchange were receiving medical and psychological care in Belarus before being transported to Russia for further treatment.