This prisoner swap has become the only big success of Trump-brokered direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. The first night of the exchange, Russia attacked Ukraine with 250 drones and 14 ballistic missiles, while claiming that it would present its own version of a peace proposal after the end of the POW exchange. Ukraine attacked Russia with 94 drones the same night.
‘Thank you, heroes’
Several hours before the attack, hundreds of women, men and children roared with joy as they saw the first buses arriving at a meeting spot. For some of the crowd, that day would have become either the happiest day of their lives if they recognized their loved ones in the sea of underfed, exhausted and traumatized faces and shaved heads of former Russian prisoners. Or it would be yet another tragedy if they don’t.
Some people were happy, waving flags and screaming “Thank you, heroes,” while others showed the newly arrived soldiers the portraits of their loved ones who could not be found.
“Almost six months of obscurity. We came here with the hope that at least someone might have seen him in Russian prisons. Maybe some of them will recognize him from a photo, or maybe they have heard his last name,” said Liubov Zabrodina, whose husband went missing at the war front in December 2024.
As the buses stop and the first soldiers come out, there’s a happy scream heard nearby, where Tetiana, a young woman waving the Ukrainian marines’ flag, sees the face of her husband.
“I haven’t seen him since 2022, since Mariupol. I did not know, my friends told me. I can’t tackle my emotions. My heart is in my toes,” Tetiana happily screams as a tired hand waves at her from the bus.
