Overview
- A swap completed Friday freed 205 captives on each side, according to Moscow and Kyiv.
- Ukraine cast the handover as the first step in a 1,000-for-1,000 exchange that President Donald Trump announced with a three-day ceasefire.
- The United Arab Emirates said it mediated the deal, calling it the 23rd such exchange and putting the total moved through its efforts at 7,101.
- Kyiv said most returnees had been held since 2022, including fighters from Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks and personnel tied to the Chernobyl site.
- Ukraine reported Saturday it had received 528 bodies for identification in a separate repatriation effort handled by security and forensic teams.