Three-Day POW Exchange: 1,000 Ukrainians Return Home

Between May 23 and 25, Ukraine and Russia carried out a major prisoner exchange under the previously announced “1000 for 1000” deal, agreed during negotiations in Türkiye. Over the course of three days, 1,000 Ukrainian citizens, both servicemen and civilians, were returned from Russian captivity.

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the exchange took place in three phases. On the first day, 390 people were freed, followed by 307 on the second day and 303 on the third.

Those released include members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, marines, Air Forces, Territorial Defence Forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and State Special Transport Service. Among them were defenders of Mariupol and fighters captured during combat operations in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions.

This was the 65th exchange since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. In total, 5757 Ukrainian citizens have been freed through negotiations since March 2022.

However, despite the scale of this exchange, not a single serviceman of the Azov Brigade was included. Colonel Denys “Redis” Prokopenko, commander of the First Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine, stated that none of his fighters were part of the exchange and expressed doubt that the Ukrainian authorities are genuinely committed to bringing them home.

“Not a single Azov fighter. Not a single Azov fighter was among the thousand Ukrainian prisoners of war exchanged over the last three days,” he wrote. “At the same time, the bastard who had asked his prison guards for a knife to "cut the ones from Azov" has returned home. This feels like mockery – a cruel joke at the expense of those who have been held in Russian captivity for more than three years under the harshest conditions and inhumane pressure. A jeer at their families, loved ones, and brothers-in-arms.”

Denys Prokopenko emphasised that Azov servicemen, who laid down arms and surrendered by order of Ukraine’s high political and military command in May 2022, have the absolute right to be prioritised in prisoner exchanges. He emphasised that it is not only Russia’s refusal but also an insufficient action on the Ukrainian side that has stalled progress.

“There are always options – we simply need to adapt and seek out new paths and configurations. Because not a single Azov fighter among the 1,000 exchanged POWs is a disgrace to the entire state.”

He also pointed to deeper systemic issues within Ukraine’s approach:

“Ukraine is packed with Russian agents — all our special services know this very well. The only thing they need is an order. I am confident the Russians would be far more interested in the priests of the Moscow Patriarchate who openly work for Russian special services than in the soldiers Russia floods Ukrainian soil with. We need to adapt and seek out new paths and configurations.”