Secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War Dmitry Usov expressed hope that the next stage of the exchange in the “1000 for 1000” format between Russia and Ukraine will take place in the near future.
He stated this during the presentation of the project “Made in Russia. Taken prisoner” on May 22, a correspondent for Suspilny reports.
“I can say that 205 (Ukrainian defenders who were returned to Ukraine as part of the exchange on May 15 – ed.) was the first stage of the so-called thousand. Discussions are underway now. All parties to this thousand have already passed the actual verification. Discussions are currently underway regarding further stages of the exchanges in the “1000 for 1000″ format. We hope that this will happen in the near future,” Usov said.
According to him, the Coordination Headquarters, within the framework of the negotiating group with the Russian Federation, is also working on other formats of exchanges. Usov also suggested that “perhaps the nearest exchange will be a combined one.”
“We have already managed to agree on something, and some of it will be during the second stage of “1000 by 1000,” added the secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
As a reminder, on May 15, Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners. 205 defenders returned to Ukraine. This is the first stage of the “1000 for 1000” exchange between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the United States.
Among those released are privates, sergeants, and officers. Most of them had been in Russian captivity since 2022. They defended Ukraine in Mariupol and at Azovstal in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhia, Sumy, Kyiv directions, and at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.