The third stage of the large prisoner exchange will take place on May 25 – Zelenskyy
The third stage of the large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine will take place on Sunday, May 25. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this in an evening address.
"Tomorrow is the third stage. We are supposed to release a thousand of our people these days. But the task is to release absolutely everyone who is currently being held in Russia, and this task is common to our intelligence services, to our diplomats, to our entire state. It is clear that this task is not easy, but it must be implemented," the head of state said.
Zelenskyy thanked everyone in the world who is helping with the exchange process: "And this is really very important for us – that our partners – every leader, every state – support us in this difficult work."
The President noted that 697 Ukrainians were returned in two days of exchanges. Therefore, 303 more prisoners are to be released as part of this large exchange.
- The 1,000-for-1,000 exchange is the only real agreement from the Istanbul talks on May 16.
- On May 23, Ukraine managed to return 270 military personnel and 120 civilians from Russian captivity. Among those released were three women and 387 men. Ukraine handed over 70 collaborators to Russia as part of the exchange.
- On May 24, the second stage of a large-scale prisoner exchange with Russia took place – Ukraine managed to return home 307 people.
