Ukraine has returned 390 people from Russian captivity. This is the first stage of the "1000 for 1000" exchange

On May 23, Ukraine and Russia conducted a prisoner exchange as part of a 1000-for-1000 agreement. 270 military and 120 civilian Ukrainians were returned home, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy .

"We are bringing our people home. The first part of the agreement on the 1000 for 1000 exchange has been implemented. This agreement was reached at a meeting in Turkey, and it is important to implement it in full," the statement reads.

According to Zelenskyy, 390 Ukrainians have been returned from Russian captivity as of May 23. The exchange will continue this weekend - on Saturday and Sunday.

As was informed by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, three women and 387 men were among those released. They managed to return servicemen of the Navy, Airborne Assault Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, as well as the National Guard of Ukraine and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

Kyiv and Moscow agreed to a 1000-for-1000 exchange during negotiations in Istanbul on May 16. The head of the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, then said that a large-scale exchange could take place "next week," i.e., this.

The day before, on May 22, the Office of the President reported that Ukraine had completed its part of the preparatory work for a 1000-for-1000 exchange with Russia, and US President Donald Trump said on the morning of May 23 that a large exchange between Ukraine and Russia had been agreed upon and would "come into effect in the near future.".

• CNN's Turkish source noted that the process will preliminarily include three categories of prisoners - children, civilians and military, but this was not officially reported.
• On May 17, Russian delegation head Medinsky claimed that the exchange would take place "in the coming days" .