By Rostyslav Averchuk
Lviv (EFE).- While Ukrainians celebrate the return of hundreds of prisoners from Russian captivity, it signals no advances in negotiations between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States as Moscow maintains its maximalist aims, and events in Iran postpone a new meeting between the sides.
500 Ukrainian soldiers and two civilians returned to their country within the exchange carried out between Ukraine and Russia in two rounds, on Mar. 5 and 6, bringing respite to hundreds of families after years of complete isolation.
“Many of them are in a difficult psychological state. Some are critically underweight,” Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets has said amid emotional scenes of the released calling their families for the first time in years.
At home at last
«I will never leave you again, not even for a minute. I endured everything for you and did not let them break me,» one former captive told his family in a video of the call published by the Ombudsman.
According to Lubinets, some 95% of the Ukrainian captives report suffering physical and psychological abuse in Russian captivity.
They will all now undergo a lengthy rehabilitation process and will have the right to opt out of military service.
The released were met by dozens of families of other soldiers still captive or missing. Holding their photographs, they asked the newly released for any information about their loved ones.
The released are often the only source of news about the people in captivity, says 26-year-old Vladyslav Chuguyenko, who returned in August after 3.5 years in Russian hands and whose brother, Stanislav, is still there.
“Even after months of rehabilitation, many cannot talk calmly about their experience there,” he told EFE.
Stalled negotiations
«Discussions (between Ukraine, Russia, and the US) remain ongoing, with additional progress anticipated in the weeks ahead,» Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s Special Envoy, commented on Friday.
However, the return of the prisoners, 72 since the start of the invasion, is not seen in Ukraine as a sign of progress in the diplomatic effort to end the war.
The meeting between Ukraine, Russia, and the US, initially planned for this week, has been postponed due to the US operation against Iran.
US President Donald Trump has increased rhetorical pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy by noting in his Thursday interview with POLITICO that his Ukrainian counterpart has even “fewer cards” now and arguing that Vladimir Putin is ready for a deal.
However, on Thursday, Russia’s Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed his country’s disappointment with the faltering «spirit of Anchorage,» referring to the delays in implementing the undisclosed agreements made by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Alaska in Aug. 2025.
More than territory
Positions of Ukraine and Russia on key issues, in particular on the fate of the Donbas, remain opposed.
While Moscow continues to demand full control over the region, which it currently only controls partly, Ukraine is not willing to give up any more territories than those already captured by Russia.
Russia is likely not to stop its aggression if given Donbas, and Ukraine is not going to give up the heavily fortified areas, whose capture could cost Russia hundreds of thousands of soldiers, Zelenskyy reiterated in a recent interview.
Moreover, any territorial concessions remain deeply unpopular among most Ukrainians who believe that they are unlikely to stop the Russian aggression.
“Any agreements that lead to loss of territory will be a betrayal of our children who gave their lives to defend Ukraine,” Olena Marchenko, whose son was killed in Mariupol and whose other son continues fighting, told EFE.
The Russians are not achieving much on the battlefield, she noted, which spurs them to “shell entire neighborhoods and kill civilians and children.”
“This is not war, this is the destruction of the Ukrainian people,” Marchenko underlined, reflecting the belief held by many Ukrainians that capturing Donbas is not Russia’s key aim. EFE
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