Russia says it received Ukraine’s list of names for major prisoner swap

A Kremlin spokesman informed Interfax that Russia had received a list of the names of the Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) as part of the planned dialogue between the two nations.

After Moscow released its own list of prisoners it wanted released, Dmitry Peskov told Interfax on Thursday that the list had been received.

In what would be the largest swap of the war, talks last week in Istanbul, Turkey, reached agreement on the deal, which will give each side 1, 000 POWs.

Since the start of the war in 2022, those discussions included the first direct peace negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

Ukraine had requested a 30-day ceasefire before the meeting, but Moscow only approved the prisoner swap.

Since then, Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of purposefully stifling peace negotiations to consolidate its territorial gains.

The major prisoner swap is a “quite laborious process” that “requires some time,” according to Peskov, who added that “the work is proceeding at a quick pace.”

According to the Kremlin spokesperson, “everyone wants to do it right away.”

Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, claimed on Thursday that the agreement to release “1, 000 of our people from Russian captivity” was perhaps the only tangible outcome of the meeting in Turkiye.

In a post on X, he wrote, “We are working to ensure that this result is achieved.”

Rustem Umerov, the president’s personal office, and several Ukrainian government ministries are supporting the exchange process, Zelenskyy added.

One of Ukraine’s top priorities, Zelenskyy said, is the return of all of our citizens from Russian captivity. Everyone who makes a contribution to this project is a blessing to me.

As Ukraine, the European Union, and the United States press Moscow to resume negotiations, Peskov refuted reports of upcoming Vatican peace talks, saying, “There is no concrete agreement about the next meetings.”

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and US President Donald Trump reaffirmed their commitment to putting an end to the “bloodbath.”

Putin thanked Trump for backing resuming direct negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, and declared that his country would “propose and is willing to collaborate with the Ukrainian side on a memo on a possible future peace agreement.”

Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry announced on Thursday that its air defenses shot down 105 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 35 over the Moscow region.

Between late Tuesday and early Thursday, the ministry reported that it shot 485 Ukrainian drones over a number of regions and the Black Sea.

Oleksandr Prokudin, the governor of Kherson in southern Ukraine, added on Thursday that a Russian artillery attack in the area claimed the lives of one person.

Eleven people were hurt in 35 areas in the Kherson region, including the city of Kherson, over the past day when they were attacked with artillery shells and air attacks.