Russia Ukraine Prisoner Exchange

MOSCOW, Aug 24 – Russia and Ukraine have carried out a new prisoner swap, with 146 captives from each side released on Sunday after mediation by the United Arab Emirates, according to both the Russian defense ministry and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The Russian side said that the freed soldiers were already in Belarus, where officials were grappling with how best to provide medical and psychological support. Meanwhile, Ukraine also returned to Moscow eight civilians from the Kursk region, though Russian representatives complained that Kyiv was being slow in this area.

Zelenskiy, posting on Telegram, confirmed that the exchange had taken place, though he did not give precise figures at first. He later shared photos of smiling returnees, noting that many had been in captivity since 2022. Among them was a journalist who had been captured only a month after Russia invaded.

The Ukrainian president thanked the UAE for its role in the talks. He added that such exchanges would likely continue, since Ukrainian troops were capturing more Russian soldiers and thereby building up what he called “the exchange fund.”

Military officials in Kyiv confirmed the total swap involved 146 prisoners on each side.

On the Russian side, negotiator Vladimir Medinsky – who has helped talk through settlement terms in three rounds of Turkey-hosted negotiations since May – argued that Ukraine was dragging its feet. He claimed Russia had been forced to piece together lists of civilians slowly and negotiate “in painful installments.”

Medinsky said that Moscow had tried to bat around different solutions, but little progress had been made. He accused Ukraine of choosing to play with the idea of small, selective swaps instead of returning everyone at once.

“It never even seemed to occur to them to keep the pace up,” he wrote on Telegram. “More than 20 residents of Kursk are still waiting. Three months have gone by, and civilians are only being returned in tiny groups, as if Kyiv were trying to rough out its own priorities rather than honor agreements.”

Despite the tensions, both sides appeared to agree that prisoner exchanges were catching on as one of the few areas of cooperation left between them.

Vocabulary List with Definitions, Examples & Practice

1. catch on – to begin to understand; to become popular

   • Example: He didn't catch on to the new English topic of future perfect continuous.

   • Practice:

     • Have you ever taken a long time to catch on to something?

     • Can you think of a trend that didn’t catch on?

2. grapple with – to struggle to deal with or understand a problem

   • Example: Both sides continue to grapple with the political consequences of exchanges.

   • Practice:

     • What global issue are countries currently grappling with?

     • How do you usually grapple with personal challenges?

3. piece together – to collect information and form a full picture

   • Example: Journalists tried to piece together the details of the exchange.

   • Practice:

     • When was the last time you had to piece together a story from fragments?

     • Why do historians need to piece together evidence?

4. keep up – to maintain the same level of progress or effort

   • Example: Ukraine must keep up its diplomatic momentum.

   • Practice:

     • Do you find it hard to keep up with world news?

     • How do students keep up their energy during exams?

5. occur to – to suddenly come into someone’s mind

   • Example: It did not occur to officials that civilians might complicate the talks.

   • Practice:

     • Has it ever suddenly occurred to you that you forgot something important?

     • What ideas recently occurred to you at work or school?

6. rough out – to sketch or plan something in a simple form

   • Example: Negotiators tried to rough out the terms of the next swap.

   • Practice:

     • Do you prefer to rough out plans or make them precise from the start?

     • Can you rough out a day in your ideal vacation?

7. think up – to invent or create an idea

   • Example: Mediators had to think up alternative solutions.

   • Practice:

     • Can you think up a creative solution to traffic jams?

     • Who do you know that always manages to think up clever ideas?

8. play with an idea – to consider or test an idea without committing to it

   • Example: They decided to play with the idea of including civilians.

   • Practice:

     • What new hobby have you played with the idea of trying?

     • Why might a government play with the idea of reform before making real changes?

9. talk it through – to discuss something carefully to reach understanding

   • Example: Medinsky urged both sides to talk it through instead of stalling.

   • Practice:

     • Do you prefer to talk things through or keep them to yourself?

     • When should friends talk it through instead of arguing?

10. bounce off – to share ideas with someone to get feedback

    1. Example: Mediators needed people they could bounce ideas off.

    2. Practice:

       1. Who do you usually bounce ideas off when you need advice?

       2. Why is it useful to bounce off ideas in a team setting?

11. bat around – to casually discuss or suggest possibilities

    1. Example: Negotiators began to bat around temporary solutions.

    2. Practice:

       1. When was the last time you and your friends batted around an idea?

       2. Why is it important to bat around options before making a decision?