Russia returns 15 forcibly deported Ukrainian convicts in '1,000-for-1,000' POW swap

Hanna Skrypka, legal advisor for the Protection for Prisoners of Ukraine organization, told Suspilne about this.

According to her, in November 2022, during the retreat from the southern regions, Russian forces took about 1,800 Ukrainian convicts who had been serving sentences for various crimes. These individuals were later transferred to colonies in other occupied territories or deeper into Russia.

Human rights activists consider these actions a violation of international humanitarian law and classify them as a war crime. Over the two years since the deportation, approximately 380 of these convicts have been returned.

During the May 23 exchange, at least 15 of them returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory. Their time spent in Russian colonies was counted toward their sentences. As Skrypka clarified, three of them were placed in pre-trial detention facilities upon return to continue serving their sentences, while the others were released as their terms had expired.

In total, during the May 23 exchange, Russia handed over 390 people to Ukraine — 270 military personnel and 120 civilians. Among the civilians was paintball coach Pavlo Zozuliak from Kherson region, who was abducted by Russian forces in July 2022 and sentenced to two years for allegedly being involved with Right Sector.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War did not provide details on the remaining freed civilians. Meanwhile, Suspilne has sent a request to the Ministry of Justice asking for clarification on how many of those released were Ukrainian citizens sentenced before the full-scale invasion.

'1,000 for 1,000' exchange

On May 23, Ukraine and Russia began the largest prisoner exchange since the beginning of the large-scale war. As part of the first part of the '1000 for 1000' exchange agreement, Ukraine returned 390 military and civilians.

On May 24, the second stage of a large prisoner of war exchange between Ukraine and the Russian Federation was carried out. 307 Ukrainian defenders returned home.

On Sunday, May 25, 2025, as part of the final third stage of the prisoner of war exchange with the aggressor country, 303 defenders of Ukraine returned to their homeland via Belarus. The same number of Russian soldiers were returned to the Russian Federation.

The commander of the 12th Special Purpose Brigade Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine, Colonel Denys Prokopenko, stated that among the thousand Ukrainian prisoners of war who were returned as part of a large exchange with Russia, there was not a single serviceman from his unit.

As part of the 1,000 for 1,000 prisoner of war exchange, for the first time since the full-scale war, soldiers from 46 units, from which no one had been released before, were returned to Ukraine.