Former Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) are torn between President Trump’s “land swap” proposal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the ongoing conflict in Mariupol. Oleksandr Didur, a service member in Ukraine’s 36th Separate Marine Infantry Brigade, and Yuliia Horoshanska, another former soldier, have expressed their concerns about the terms being discussed to end the war. Both POWs were taken captive during Russia’s siege of Mariupol, which has become a symbol of Putin’s cruelty and devastation in Ukraine.
Russia was reported to hold about 4,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war in 2024, with between 1,500 and 2,000 being soldiers who were captured defending Mariupol more than three years ago. The war transformed the city into something unrecognizable, with civilians and Ukraine’s armed forces taking shelter and setting up defenses in the Azovstal Steel Works. In May 2022, Russia captured thousands of soldiers in its takeover of the plant.
The physical state of returning Ukrainian soldiers, including heads shaved, emaciated bodies, signs of torture and abuse, only added to the urgency for more swaps. Horoshanska, who was injured in a Russian airstrike and was receiving medical treatment in Azovstal when it came under Russian occupation, said she almost lost her will to live during her months in Russian prison.
Mariupol is in the southeastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, which remains largely under Russian control. Putin has proposed ending the fighting in exchange for Ukraine handing over roughly one-third of the eastern Donetsk region that Kyiv still controls. A counterproposal from Europe would have Ukraine hand over the entire Donetsk region in exchange for Russia withdrawing from occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south.
