Exchange 1000 for 1000 – Coordination Headquarters held a new meeting, will report to Zelenskyy

A meeting of the Council of the Coordination Headquarters for Prisoners of War was held regarding the future exchange with the Russian Federation in the 1000-for-1000 format, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be informed about the decision. The Ministry of Defense wrote about this.

The Council meeting was held on the instructions of the head of state, and the key topic was the upcoming large-scale prisoner exchange.

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov noted: "We are working to ensure that our people are home as soon as possible. As a result of the negotiations in Istanbul, an important agreement was reached: a 1,000-for-1,000 exchange. This is a difficult and sensitive process that requires clear coordination of all state structures."

According to the minister, that is why the Council met to agree on a joint action plan and "implement this agreement as soon as possible." This institution is a collegial body that unites all key agencies: the Ministry of Defense, the Main Intelligence Directorate, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights.

All decisions made based on the results of the meeting will be reported to the president on May 19, Umerov noted.

"We are not stopping there. Ukraine consistently advocates for an exchange of "all for all". And we are moving towards this goal – step by step. To release all our prisoners of war," the head of the Ministry of Defense said.

The official recalled that May 18 marks the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People.

"This is another reason to remember our political prisoners in Crimea – hundreds of people who have been held in Russian prisons for years for their position, for their identity, for not submitting to the occupation. They are tortured, they are not given the right to a fair trial, their families are under constant pressure. Our duty is to release everyone," Umerov added.

• A large prisoner exchange is the only real agreement from the Ukrainian-Russian meeting in Istanbul on May 16 (more about the negotiations here).

• HUR reported that work on the exchange was already underway. The SSU also reported that it had already begun preparatory measures for the exchange. A Turkish source for CNN noted that the process would include three categories of prisoners – children, civilians and military, but this was not officially reported.

• The head of the HUR, Budanov, reported that the exchange of prisoners could take place as early as next week. The head of the Russian delegation, Medinsky, claimed that the exchange would take place in the "coming days."