Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds more prisoners as part of a major swap that amounted to a moment of cooperation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire.

Russia and Ukraine have each handed over 390 soldiers and civilians in the biggest prisoner exchange since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. They both returned 270 servicemen and 120 civilians on the Ukrainian border with Belarus, as part of the only deal agreed in direct talks in Istanbul a week ago.

Russia and Ukraine each released 390 prisoners on Friday and said they would free more in the coming days, in what is expected to be the biggest prisoner swap of the war so far. The agreement to exchange 1,