Zelensky says Ukraine is working on prisoner exchange with Russia

Ukraine is working to resume prisoner exchanges with Russia that could bring home 1,200 Ukrainian prisoners, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, a day after his national security chief announced progress in negotiations.

“We are … counting on the resumption of POW exchanges,” Zelensky wrote on X. “Many meetings, negotiations and calls are currently taking place to ensure this.”

Rustem Umerov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said Saturday he held consultations mediated by Turkey and the United Arab Emirates on resuming exchanges.

He said the parties agreed to activate prisoner exchange agreements brokered in Istanbul to release 1,200 Ukrainians.

Moscow did not immediately comment on the claim.

The Istanbul agreements refer to prisoner-exchange protocols established with Turkish mediation in 2022 that set rules for large, coordinated swaps.

Since then, Russia and Ukraine have traded thousands of prisoners, though exchanges have been sporadic.

Umerov said technical consultations would be held soon to finalize procedural and organizational details, expressing hope that returning Ukrainians could “celebrate the New Year and Christmas holidays at home — at the family table and next to their relatives.”

In other developments, energy infrastructure was damaged by Russian drone strikes overnight into Sunday in Ukraine’s Odesa region, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

A solar power plant was among the damaged sites.

Ukraine is desperately trying to fend off relentless Russian aerial attacks that have brought rolling blackouts across Ukraine on the brink of winter.

Combined missile and drone strikes on the power grid have coincided with Ukraine’s efforts to hold back a Russian battlefield push aimed at capturing the eastern stronghold of Pokrovsk.

Russia fired a total of 176 drones and one missile overnight, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday, adding that Ukrainian forces shot down or neutralized 139 drones.

Russia’s defense ministry said Sunday that its forces shot down 57 Ukrainian drones overnight.