Most service members return in October exchange
The October 23 prisoner exchange brought 261 Ukrainian service members and nine civilians home, while Russia received 270 prisoners of war from Ukrainian captivity. This 11th exchange of 2026 marks the first swap in two months, following the previous two exchanges that occurred in August. I consider the return of Azov Regiment members for the first time "in a long while" to be the most significant part of this swap. Most released service members, including those from the Ground Forces, Navy, Air Assault Forces, border guards, and the Azov regiment, faced capture during the spring 2022 Siege of Mariupol. While intermittent U.S.-mediated "peace talks" between Russia and Ukraine have failed to secure even a partial ceasefire, prisoner exchanges remain one of the few channels of regular cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv.
Ivan Vyhivskyi, Ukraine’s Interior minister, reported that two members of the National Border Guard, a father and son both named Volodymyr, saw each other for the first time in four years after their capture in Mariupol’s Azovstal. Two captives had spent eight and six years in captivity after being held since 2018 and 2020. The youngest released prisoner was 24, while the oldest was 63. These returnees include survivors of the July 2022 Olenivka prison massacre, which occurred when a thermobaric munition detonated inside a prison barracks housing Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Convicted soldiers and civilian counts
The exchange brought home 86 convicted soldiers and one person facing criminal prosecution, which marks the largest number of convicted Ukrainian service members returned since 2022. According to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a "significant portion" of the released prisoners had been found guilty on sham criminal charges while they were held in Russian captivity. I find the fact that these trials occurred in Russia to be a blunt reality. Five of the released prisoners survived the July 2022 Olenivka prison massacre, which was caused when a thermobaric munition detonated inside a prison barracks housing Ukrainian prisoners of war. Because the Third Geneva Convention prohibits prosecuting prisoners solely for participating in hostilities, the U.N. and human rights organizations describe such trials in Russia as war crimes.
Ukrainian authorities brought seven civilians back from Russia, while another seven civilians traveled to Russia as part of family reunification efforts supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets. President Zelensky and the Coordination Headquarters later clarified that nine civilians were released in total. I find the discrepancy between Lubinets’ count of 14 civilians and the official government total of nine civilians to be an inconsistent detail in the reports. The exchange provided a way for those held under criminal prosecution to return home.
