Ukraine Pushes for Big Prisoner Swap with Russia

Ukraine is trying hard to get a big prisoner exchange going with Russia. They want to bring home 1, 200 Ukrainians who are being held captive. President Zelenskiy and his top security advisor have been talking about this a lot lately. The security chief, Rustem Umerov, just got back from meetings in Turkey and the UAE. He said these talks were all about getting the prisoner swaps back on track. The goal is to follow the rules set up in Istanbul last year. That's when Turkey helped broker a deal for big, organized exchanges between Ukraine and Russia. Since then, there have been some swaps, but they haven't been happening regularly. The war has made things messy, and the exchanges often get disrupted. Now, Umerov says they're going to have more meetings soon to figure out the details of how to make this happen. Ukraine really wants these people home in time for the holidays. Umerov said they're working around the clock to make that happen. But so far, Russia hasn't said anything about Ukraine's plans. This isn't the first time Ukraine has tried to get prisoners back. They've been doing it since the war started in 2022. But it's always been complicated, and the results have been uneven. Still, they're not giving up. They know it's a long process, but they're hoping this time will be different.