A total of 165 residents from the Russian border region were abducted during the 2024 incursion, according to officials.
Seven Russian civilians, the last held by Ukraine since the 2024 Kursk incursion, have been freed after nearly 500 days in captivity, Moscow has said.
Their release came as part of a prisoner swap on Saturday, with 175 Russian servicemen returned in exchange for 175 Ukrainian soldiers, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said.
“We fought for nearly two long years to bring home all Kursk residents who became hostages in Ukraine during the occupation of our border region,” Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova wrote on social media. “Today, the last seven of our compatriots have been freed and can finally embrace their loved ones. In total, 165 residents of Kursk Region had been illegally held by the Ukrainian side since 2024.”
Earlier, she said that Kiev had sought to exchange the civilians for Ukrainians detained in Russia for various crimes. Moskalkova called such demands unacceptable, arguing that the Russians had been held by Ukraine without legal grounds and in violation of international norms, had not committed any actions that would harm Ukraine.
In January, Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik, who leads a Foreign Ministry mission that tracks alleged Ukrainian war crimes, also said that Kiev was trying to secure “the return of Ukrainian war criminals held in our custody” in exchange for civilians.
A video obtained by RT shows Moskalkova meeting the freed civilians upon their arrival in Belarus. According to Kursk Governor Aleksandr Khinstein, five women and two men were freed, with the oldest being 91 years old. Some of them have serious health conditions and one woman is blind. “Everyone who requires qualified medical assistance will absolutely get it,” the governor said.
The Ukrainian advance into Kursk Region in August 2024 was quickly halted and fully repelled in April 2025. In January, Moskalkova said that the Russian authorities found 524 bodies in “mass burial sites” in the border region following its liberation.
Russian officials have reported numerous testimonies alleging war crimes, including rape and abductions, as well as abuses of POWs, during the Ukrainian presence.
