Easter Prisoner Exchange – What It Was Like and What It Could Have Been

Exclusive report by Kyiv Post from the prisoner exchange on April 11 – and why it was not as expected Make us preferred on Google Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Anastasia meets her boyfriend Artem after he was released from Russian captivity (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google On April 11, ahead of Orthodox Easter, an anticipated exchange of prisoners of war took place between Ukraine and Russia. A total of 182 people were released from captivity – 175 military personnel and seven civilians. Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . For the first time in a long while, many of those in Russian captivity since 2022 were released. Previously, there had only been a few such cases. Released POWs leaving the bus (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Everyone could see and feel this when ambulances arrived first with the exchanged – usually there are not so many, but this time there were up to ten vehicles. Among those held since 2022, many were wounded and seriously ill. Injured released POWs (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) It is also significant that many officers were released in this exchange, including those in senior ranks up to lieutenant colonel. “Today, 25 officers were also released, which is a significant result. Among those freed are defenders of Mariupol, Azovstal, representatives of the Territorial Defense Forces, and defenders of Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. However, we understand that everyone is waiting for their own. Their comrades, their relatives, their fathers, their sons – so the work continues,” said Andriy Yusov, deputy head of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Other Topics of Interest Russian Drone Strikes Injure Two Civilians in Zolochiv During Easter Morning A drone attack in the Kharkiv region damaged a shop and private property, marking another breach of the holiday ceasefire as Russian forces continue to ignore the pledged truce. Andriy Yusov (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) The anxious wait for results at the border is interrupted by shouts from people in the crowd gathering near the meeting point – someone receives the long-awaited news about the release of their relatives from captivity. Svitlana is one of them. This Easter, her son Yevhen – a serviceman of the 28th Brigade, and only 22 years old – was released from Russian captivity after spending 190 days in prison. Svitlana (siting) with her mate (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) She says she regularly travels to exchanges, and the message that her son was to be exchanged came as a surprise. “It’s so unexpected! But still, I had a feeling that I wasn’t coming here in vain… He studied for three years, completed his bachelor’s degree, worked in construction and earned good money, but then he said ‘I’m going to join the army.’ I begged him not to, but he didn’t listen. He went at 21, and at 22 he was taken into captivity,” she says. Svitlana waiting for her son (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Svitlana is originally from the Cherkasy region in central Ukraine. Her son wanted to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine while still a student, at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. “We live 270 kilometers from here. For me, it’s like walking, I’m here all the time. After my son was taken captive, I’ve been constantly coming here and have been experiencing all the same emotions of others... I thought when I found out my son was being released, I would collapse, but somehow I have managed… my son knows that I’ve been waiting for him, that I’ve been looking for him. “He always said I’m not like other mothers – if he doesn’t call me once a day, I’ll track him down! When he went on a mission and was captured, he wrote, ‘Mom, we are going to be sent somewhere we won’t return from.’ And I wrote back – ‘you’re strong, you’ll endure’… He wanted this since he was 19, but I asked him to finish his studies. He didn’t and still went to war,” Svitlana says. Svitlana and others relatives of 28th Brigade POWs posing with brigade's flag (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Countless people have come to the exchange – relatives of prisoners and the missing. Everyone expected that this exchange might be large-scale. POWs and mising relatives on the site (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) The media mentioned figures ranging from 500 to nearly 1,000 people. Yusov does not hide his own expectations. “One hundred and eight two people who returned is a lot, but there was preparation, there were hopes, and Ukraine worked on returning a larger number of defenders by Easter. Unfortunately, the enemy rejected these initiatives, as well as others,” Yusov says. People leave photos of their beloved mising in hope that sombody of releazed will recognize them (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Ambulances arrive first. The ill and severely wounded are driven away. Some cannot move independently, and a long rehabilitation lies ahead. “Those people have experienced much worse because the four years in captivity were years of abuse and years of inhumane treatment. No Geneva Convention works in Russia. They are exhausted, have aggravated chronic illnesses, and the number of men with tuberculosis and trophic diseases of the lower limbs is increasing,” says a hospital official who asked to remain anonymous. One of those in a serious condition recognizes a photograph of his comrade among the many pictures held by relatives of the missing. Injured leaving the ambulance (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) He shares information with Iryna – the wife of Oleksandr, who went missing in Mariupol and for whom she has been waiting for four years. One of the inhured meets Iryna who searches her mising husband (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Iryna does not hide her emotions because she could have been just a few meters away and then would have learned nothing. “He knows him, they studied together, and he was in the bunker with my Sasha. He said he would give me more information later,” Iryna says. Iryna with photo of her husband Oleksandr, mising since 2022 (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) And then the buses arrive – four in total. Three with prisoners of war, and one with civilians. Those waiting for relatives move closer to the doors. This joy is impossible to describe. Anastasia meets her boyfriend Artem after captivity (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) They are given literally a minute to hug their loved ones, and then they are taken to hospital. Released leaving the bus (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) They promise that later they will be able to meet for longer, but their waiting relatives are happy even with such a short meeting for now. Svitlana and her son (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) She recalls that her son said “Mom, I’m already home, don’t cry.” Svitlana with her husband (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) The main question now is whether it will be possible to force Russia to continue the Easter exchange. Officials have hope, although they say it will take a few more days of waiting. “We can cautiously say that, in the near future, the work will continue, the measures will continue, and we will be able to say that today was only the beginning of the Easter exchange,” Yusov says.