Russia and Ukraine Swap 270 Prisoners Each as White House Announces Ceasefire in Front-Line City of Oleshky

Russia and Ukraine each released 270 prisoners of war on Friday, Oct. 23, the latest exchange in a process brokered by the Trump administration, as the White House announced a localized ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky set to begin next week, according to Politico Europe, the German news agency dpa and the White House.

Inside the 270-for-270 Prisoner Exchange

Ukraine brought home 261 military personnel and nine civilians, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement, Politico Europe reported. “270 of our people are home,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, according to dpa.

“Most of those released are warriors who defended Ukraine in Mariupol,” Zelenskyy said, according to Politico Europe. He said five of those returning had been believed killed in the July 2022 attack on the Russian-run prison at Olenivka, a detail also reported by dpa.

Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed the exchange and said the 270 returned Russian soldiers were in Belarus, both outlets reported. The swap took place at the border between Belarus and Ukraine, dpa reported.

Politico Europe reported that Friday's swap was the third stage of a process that began on Aug. 19, under a prisoner exchange deal brokered by the Trump administration in May. Zelenskyy said at the time that the process was expected to involve 2,000 prisoners of war in total, the outlet reported.

White House Announces Oleshky Ceasefire

Separately on Friday, the White House said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to temporarily halt all military action in Oleshky, a front-line city on the Russian-occupied east bank of the Dnipro River across from Kherson, to allow humanitarian aid in and to prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe passage. The ceasefire is set to begin on Oct. 29, according to the White House statement.

The White House credited first lady Melania Trump with securing the agreement, saying she and her representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership on its terms, timing and procedures. “The situation in Oleshky is dire. Oleshky is a front-line war city on the brink of disaster,” she said in the statement, adding that its remaining residents, mostly elderly, urgently need medical attention, medicine, food and clean water.

Under the plan, civilian representatives from both countries will visit residents in their homes to assess what help they need, and those who want to leave will be given transportation to their preferred destination, the White House said.

Before the war, about 24,000 people lived in Oleshky; the White House estimates 1,700 to 2,000 remain. The city has been under Russian occupation since the first days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, the BBC and Euronews reported.

Ukraine and Russia had not commented on the ceasefire announcement, the BBC reported. Euronews reported that the White House statement did not say how long the ceasefire would last.

Image: A Ukrainian flag (file photo), by Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Yossi Schmidt, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Digital Free Press

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Sources: Politico Europe, "Ukraine and Russia each exchange 270 prisoners of war" (Oct. 23, 2026): https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-russia-exchange-270-prisoners-war-zelenskyy-putin-trump/ ; dpa via Yahoo News, "Ukraine, Russia swap 270 prisoners each in latest exchange" (Oct. 23, 2026): https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/ukraine-russia-swap-270-prisoners-140330240.html ; The White House, "First Lady Melania Trump Secures Ceasefire Between Russia and Ukraine, Localized to Oleshky" (Oct. 23, 2026): https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2026/10/first-lady-melania-trump-secures-ceasefire-between-russia-and-ukraine-localized-to-oleshky/ ; BBC News, "Melania Trump brokers truce for Ukraine city 'on brink of disaster', White House says" (Oct. 23, 2026): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6vgxkvl4w5eo ; Euronews, "Melania Trump secures ceasefire in Russian-occupied city of Oleshky" (Oct. 23, 2026): https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/23/melania-trump-secures-ceasefire-in-russian-occupied-ukrainian-city-of-oleshky-white-house-