15:21 / 20.04.2025

Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner exchange under the "246 to 246" scheme

On April 19, Russia and Ukraine carried out another prisoner exchange. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the exchange took place according to the "246 for 246" scheme. According to TASS, "as a sign of goodwill," Russia also handed over 31 wounded soldiers to Ukraine in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the soldiers were taken via Belarus; on April 20, the plane they were on landed in Moscow (a video of the return of the prisoners was broadcast on the Zvezda TV channel).

A total of 277 people have been returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on his Telegram channel. It was not specified how many soldiers were transferred to Russia. Both sides stressed that the exchange was carried out with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates.

As of April 20, only the Ukrainian side had published official photos of the released prisoners. Meduza published photos from Chernihiv, where the Ukrainian servicemen were received.

According to Zelensky, in addition to servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard of Ukraine, employees of the State Special Transport Service, and border guards were among the released.

^{Those returned from captivity fought in Mariupol, as well as in other areas of the Donetsk region, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia regions.
Kostiantyn Liberov / Libkos / Getty Images}