Ukrainian coordinator explains prisoner swap rationale, says many Russian POWs were convicts

"Most of the Russians who are currently held captive in Ukraine are former convicts, those who were mobilized from prisons," Yatsenko said.

“Therefore, it is logical that during the exchanges we return most of those who were prisoners in Russia.”

The Coordination Headquarters explained why this is "not paradoxical" but fits in with the aggressor's policy:

"It should be understood that a significant part of the Russian army fighting on the territory of Ukraine is assault battalions formed from those who served their sentences. And now, at the state level, in propaganda, they are beginning to position them as heroes, as those who are fighting, it is not known for what, but ‘these are heroes.’ And they are trying to maintain this reputation somehow. In addition, the Wagner Group itself also took care of its prisoners of war and made sure that all the 'Wagnerites' who were taken prisoner were exchanged."

However, Yatsenko adds, it was not always like that:

"At first, there was a period when no one was interested in those who came out of prison. The time has come when there is a buyer for this product."

The largest exchange since the beginning of Russia's war took place on Jan. 3, as 230 prisoners of war returned to Ukraine.

248 Russian service members returned to Russia.