The first exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine since October freed 157 servicemen, prompting emotional reunions and renewed uncertainty for many families. Relatives waited for hours outside a hospital as buses delivered the released soldiers — including men captured in Vuhledar and Mariupol. The freed were taken immediately for medical checks, while those with no formal notifications pressed photos to windows hoping for news of other missing loved ones.
Emotional Reunions — 157 Ukrainian Soldiers Freed in First Prisoner Swap Since October
Family members joyfully and apprehensively waited to be reunited with loved ones captured by Russia in the war with Ukraine (Handout)(Handout/UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP)
Even the biting cold could not dampen the jubilation that swept through a crowd waiting outside a hospital on Thursday: Ukraine and Russia carried out their first prisoner exchange since October, freeing 157 servicemen in total.
“Congratulations. Your son has been released,” read a message a father received at midday — the first word of hope after two years of his son’s captivity. Ivan Roman’s father shouted the news down the phone to a friend and later told reporters, “I yelled with joy! He’s coming back! I even spoke to him for a few minutes.” Ivan, who shares his father’s name, was captured by Russian forces in November 2022 in Vuhledar, in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
For many families, prisoner swaps are one of the few remaining points of direct contact between Kyiv and Moscow during the four-year war. Ivan’s father has attended nearly every exchange since his son’s capture, hoping for news.
Joyful Reunions and Private Agony
Among those waiting for hours outside the hospital was Olga Kurk-Malayeva. Wrapped in a flag bearing her husband’s corps insignia, the 26-year-old had spent “three years and 10 months” awaiting his return. Her husband, Ruslan, served in the 501st Marine Battalion and was taken prisoner during the siege of Mariupol early in the conflict.
Night fell before three buses carrying the liberated soldiers finally pulled in. The gaunt faces of the freed men appeared at the windows, and the crowd surged forward. Kurk-Malayeva reached the bus door in time to embrace Ruslan as he stepped down. The couple walked away together and shared their first kiss in years, while a makeshift guard of honour formed around the arrivals.
Yet alongside the joy were scenes of continued anguish. Some relatives received no official notice before arriving; they pressed photos of missing loved ones to hospital windows and scanned the faces inside, desperate for any sign. One freed soldier stepped forward to peer at the photographs and shook his head at each one — a quiet sign that not every missing person was among the returned.
Immediate Care and Lingering Uncertainty
Following the welcomes, the soldiers were taken straight to a hospital building for medical examinations. From outside, they could still be seen through the windows as family members waited anxiously. Officials have framed such exchanges as important humanitarian gestures, but the releases also underline the war’s longer human toll: while hundreds were freed, many families remain without information about other loved ones.
Key fact: This prisoner swap — the first between the two sides since October — released 157 servicemen, but many relatives continue to seek news of others still missing or detained.
As exchanges continue, the emotional reunions will be matched by continued searches and questions for families across Ukraine, and by the ongoing need for medical and psychological care for those who return.
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