Ukrainian official says major prisoner swap with Russia underway

An exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine from their 3-year-old war is underway, a senior Ukrainian official says, in one of the few signs of progress in international efforts to halt the fighting.

The swap has not yet finished, according to the official, who speaks on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly.

There is no immediate confirmation from Moscow that the exchange is underway.

Ukraine and Russia agreed to the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side a week ago in Turkey in their first direct peace talks since the early weeks of Moscow’s 2022 invasion of its neighbor. That meeting lasted only two hours and brought no breakthrough in international diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

The Ukrainian comment comes after US President Donald Trump said earlier today that Russia and Ukraine had carried out a large exchange of prisoners.

“A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said on the Truth Social platform. He said it would “go into effect shortly,” although it was not clear what that meant.

“This could lead to something big???” Trump added in his post, apparently referring to international diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

White House and National Security Council officials do not immediately respond to requests for further details.