The head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, emphasized that work on new prisoner exchanges is ongoing. He stated this during a speech marking the anniversary of the establishment of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
This is reported by Finway
Achievements and Support from International Partners
According to Budanov, since the beginning of the headquarters’ activities, more than 70 exchanges have been organized, resulting in over 8,500 Ukrainian citizens returning home. He noted that each exchange is preceded by lengthy and complex negotiations, in which international partners play a crucial role.
“In particular, I want to highlight the United States of America and the United Arab Emirates. They have truly helped in many ways. They made an invaluable contribution: diplomatic resources, mediation in the most difficult situations, and pressure where it was necessary. We are grateful to them and rely on this support going forward.”
Budanov stressed that without the assistance of partners, many exchanges would have been significantly complicated or even impossible.
State Programs and Prospects for a New Exchange
The official noted that state programs such as “I Want to Live,” “I Want to Find,” and “I Want to Return to My Own” facilitate the release of prisoners by helping organize the surrender of Russian soldiers and supporting the exchange process.
Budanov expressed confidence in the continuation of negotiations, emphasizing the daily work of the headquarters and partners. He also expressed hope that a large prisoner exchange would take place by Easter and highlighted that maximum efforts are being made to achieve this.
As a reminder, as of March, according to the Coordination Headquarters, since the beginning of the full-scale war, 8,050 Ukrainians have been returned from Russian captivity. The latest exchanges occurred on March 5 and 6, when Ukraine returned 500 servicemen. Agreements for this exchange were reached during negotiations in Geneva in February.