Russia, Ukraine exchange POWs in deal mediated by United Arab Emirates

Bloomberg News on Aug 24, 2025

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The armed forces of Russia and Ukraine exchanged service members on Sunday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Telegram, the latest in a series of prisoner swaps this year.

The swap of 146 prisoners from each side was mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

The Russian troops are now in Belarus receiving medical and psychological assistance, and will proceed to Russia from there, the ministry said. Eight civilians from Kursk region were also returned from Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said the swap was part of agreements between Moscow and Kyiv reached in Istanbul earlier in the year. It said eight civilians as well as military personnel were returned to Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said one of the civilians was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, abducted in the Kyiv region in March 2022, weeks into Russia’s invasion.

The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency said Sunday’s swap brought the number of prisoners released through 17 mediations by the Gulf state to 4,641.

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(With assistance from Sherif Tarek.)

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