- Title: Scenes of joy as 175 prisoners of war return home after Ukraine-Russia swap
- Date: 19th March 2025
- Summary: CHERNIHIV REGION, UKRAINE (MARCH 19, 2025) (REUTERS) RELEASED PRISONER OF WAR HUGGING ANOTHER PERSON RELEASED PRISONERS OF WAR SMOKING VARIOUS OF RELEASED POWS POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPH SERHII (NO LAST NAME GIVEN), RELEASED POW, SPEAKING TO WIFE ON PHONE / WIFE SAYING: ‘Serhii, we will talk later, everything is fine, don’t worry! Most important that you’re alive! We’ve been wa
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Cease fire Ceasefire Exchange POW Prosoners Russian invasion War in Ukraine
- Location: CHERNIHIV REGION, UKRAINE
- City: CHERNIHIV REGION, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001012219032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 175 prisoners of war each, both sides said on Wednesday (March 19), following a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin in which the swap was discussed.
Russia handed over an additional 22 heavily wounded Ukrainian prisoners, both sides confirmed.
“We were tortured there very hard. Boys didn’t make it there – some even lost their minds,” said Serhii, who spent 3 years and 10 days in Russian captivity.
Among the released POWs were people looking for their relatives still in captivity.
‘Have you seen him? It is my son – Ivan Roman. They say he could be next to be exchanged,’ said a man while showing the picture of his son to released POWs.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a statement on X described the exchange as one of the largest of its kind and said the 22 Ukrainians were "severely wounded warriors and those whom Russia persecuted for fabricated crimes."
"All of them will immediately receive the necessary medical and psychological assistance," Zelenskiy said.
(Production: Anna Voitenko, Andrii Pryimachenko) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None