Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of prisoners in first phase of a major exchange

CHERNIHIV REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine began a major prisoner exchange Friday, swapping hundreds of soldiers and civilians in the first phase of an exchange that was a moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the 3-year-old war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the first phase brought home 390 Ukrainians, including soldiers and civilians, with further releases expected over the weekend that will make it the largest swap of the war. Russia's Defense Ministry said it received the same number from Ukraine.

“It’s very important to bring everyone home,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, thanking all who worked to secure their return and pledging to continue diplomatic efforts to make more exchanges possible.

Dozens of relatives of prisoners cheered and chanted “Thank you!” as buses carrying the freed captives arrived at a medical facility in Ukraine's Chernihiv region. The men, some with expressionless faces and others unable to contain their emotions, got off the buses wrapped in Ukrainian flags for joyful reunions.

Kyiv and Moscow agreed in Istanbul last week to the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side in their first direct peace talks since the early weeks of Russia’s 2022 invasion. That meeting lasted only two hours and brought no breakthrough in U.S.-led efforts efforts to stop the fighting.

The swap took place at the border with Belarus in northern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The released Russians were taken to Belarus for medical treatment, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The exchange, which would be the latest of dozens of swaps since the war began and the biggest involving Ukrainian civilians at one time, didn't herald any halt in fighting.

Battles continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed, and neither country has relented in its deep strikes.

Russia launched two ballistic missiles at infrastructure targets in the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa, killing two workers and injuring eight others, according to regional Gov. Oleh Kiper. It was the first recorded attack on the port since March 11.

Moscow's forces attacked settlements in the Kherson region with artillery, mortars and drones throughout the day, killing three civilians and injuring 10, according to the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

They also shelled Kostyantynivka with artillery, killing one civilian, said Serhii Horbunov, head of the city’s military administration.

As the freed men entered the medical facility, people holding signs and photos of their relatives shouted names or brigade numbers, seeking any news of a loved one. The returning men inspected the photos, and a serviceman said he shared a cell with one of those on the sea of portraits held out toward him.

“Vanya!” cried Nataliia Mosych, among the gathered relatives, “My husband!”

She hadn’t seen her husband, Ivan, for almost two years, she said, beaming.

“It is an unbelievable feeling. I am still in shock,” Mosych said after he came outside to greet his family following registration procedures inside the facility. “I am really glad, and we were not forgotten, and we still mean something for Ukraine.”

Many who were freed expressed shock and disbelief that they had been exchanged. Some had trouble remembering names and details of their lives before their capture.

One released POW joked in a video call with his girlfriend that he got a bit older in his three-year absence, and she replied he was as beautiful as ever.

Many relatives wept when it became clear their loved ones were not among those returning, and they hoped those who were released could at least offer some information about their husbands, brothers and sons.

“Maybe my dad will come tomorrow,” one small boy cried.

News of the prisoner release emerged when U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had carried out a large exchange.

“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.”

He added in the post that "this could lead to something big???” — apparently referring to other diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

After the May 16 talks, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the prisoner swap a “confidence-building measure” and said the parties had agreed in principle to meet again.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that there has been no agreement yet on the venue for the next round of talks as diplomatic maneuvering continued.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday night that Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a “sustainable, long-term, comprehensive" peace agreement once the ongoing prisoner exchange had finished.

European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his larger army’s battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.

The Istanbul meeting revealed that both sides remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting. One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement.

The Kremlin has pushed back on a temporary halt to hostilities, and Putin has said any such truce must come with a freeze on Western arms supplies to Ukraine and an end to Ukraine’s mobilization drive.

A senior Ukrainian official said in Istanbul that Russia had introduced new, “unacceptable demands” to withdraw Ukrainian forces from huge swaths of territory. The official, who was not authorized to make official statements, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The proposal had not been previously discussed, the official said.

Putin has long demanded as a key condition for a peace deal that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four regions that Russia annexed in September 2022 but never fully controlled.

Zelenskyy has warned that if Russia continues to reject a ceasefire and make “unrealistic demands,” it will signal deliberate efforts to prolong the war — a move that should bring tougher international sanctions.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had shot down 788 Ukrainian drones away from the battlefield between May 20 and May 23.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 175 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as a ballistic missile since late Thursday.

Arhirova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington, Yehor Konovalov in Ukraine, Alex Babenko in Ukraine's Chernihiv region, and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers hug each other after returning from captivity following an exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo)

A Ukrainian soldier reacts after returning from captivity following an exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo)

Family members of Ukrainian prisoners hold photos of servicemen in captivity during a POWs exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A Ukrainian serviceman Alexander, 45, hugs his wife Elena, 39, after returning from captivity during a POWs exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In this photo taken from a video released by Russian Defense Ministry press service, Russian servicemen ride a bus after returning from captivity following an exchange between Russia and Ukraine, at an undisclosed location in Belarus, Friday, May 23, 2025. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian servicemen ride in a bus after returning from captivity after an exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office,Ukrainian soldiers pose after returning from captivity during an exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office,Ukrainian soldiers react after returning from captivity during an exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, a Ukrainian soldier hugs his comrade after returning from captivity during an exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Family members of Ukrainian prisoners hold banners and photos of servicemen in captivity ahead of an exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Family members of Ukrainian prisoners hold banners and photos of servicemen in captivity ahead of an exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Family members of Ukrainian prisoners hold banners and photos of servicemen in captivity ahead of an exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony to present highest state awards in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin's Senate Palace in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

FILE - Ukrainian servicemen climb on a vehicle outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)