Release of prisoners should be one of first steps to ending war, – Zelenskyy

Ukraine has returned 4,306 people from captivity in the aggressor country of russia since the beginning of the full-scale war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this in an evening address on Friday, March 21.

Zelenskyy noted that the Coordination Headquarters for the Return of Prisoners, which includes all services that return Ukrainians, has been working for more than three years of full-scale aggression by the russian federation. According to him, Ukraine has been discussing the release of prisoners with the American side and other partners as one of the first steps to ending the war.

"For more than three years, almost the entire time of this war, our Coordination Headquarters has been working – all services that return prisoners. More than 4,000 people have already been returned: 4,306. And we will return everyone," the President of Ukraine emphasized.

Now, when we are talking with the American side and our other partners about how to end the war, we are talking about the release of prisoners as one of the first steps. We believe that this should definitely be done.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on March 19, Ukraine returned 175 servicemen from russian captivity.

There is a preliminary agreement with the aggressor country, russia, that prisoner exchanges should become systematic in 2025.

Recall that in 2024, 1,358 Ukrainians were returned from russian captivity.