diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
index 29e3a6e0ecd..70f0224313d 100644
--- a/RELEASE.md
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -78,6 +78,35 @@ Maintenance branches should follow naming convention: `release-major.minor` (e.g
    * Once the release tag is created, the `ci-release` workflow will kick in and deploy the artifacts for the patch release.
 5. Do not perform a new release of the documentation since the major.minor is not changing. The one change that may be useful is bumping the `binariesLatest` variable in the `config.toml` file ([example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/documentation/commit/eacb52f332a7e069c254e652a6b4a58ea5a07b32)).
 
+## Manual Release Preparation Steps
+
+If you prefer to manually create the release PR instead of using the automated script, follow these steps:
+
+1. Update CHANGELOG.md to include:
+    * A new section with the header `1.x.x / 2.x.x (YYYY-MM-DD)` (copy the template at the top)
+    * A curated list of notable changes and links to PRs. Do not simply dump git log, select the changes that affect the users.
+      To obtain the list of all changes run `make changelog`.
+    * The section can be split into sub-section if necessary, e.g. UI Changes, Backend Changes, Bug Fixes, etc.
+
+2. Update the UI submodule to the latest version:
+    ```bash
+    git submodule init
+    git submodule update
+    pushd jaeger-ui
+    git checkout main
+    git pull
+    git checkout {new_ui_version} # e.g. v1.5.0
+    popd
+    ```
+    * If there are only dependency bumps, indicate this with "Dependencies upgrades only" ([example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger-ui/pull/2431/files)).
+    * If there are no changes, indicate this with "No changes" ([example](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/pull/4131/files)).
+
+3. Rotate the release managers table placing yourself at the bottom. The date should be the first Wednesday of the month.
+
+4. Commit your changes and create a pull request.
+
+5. Add label `changelog:skip` to the pull request.
+
 ## Release managers
 
 A Release Manager is the person responsible for ensuring that a new version of Jaeger is released. This person will coordinate the required changes, including to the related components such as UI, IDL, and jaeger-lib and will address any problems that might happen during the release, making sure that the documentation above is correct.
diff --git a/scripts/release/prepare.sh b/scripts/release/prepare.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2e2fd6968ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release/prepare.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+[[ $# -ge 2 ]] || { echo "Usage: $0 v1.x.x v2.x.x [--create-tags]"; exit 1; }
+
+v1="$1"
+v2="$2"
+create_tags=false
+
+if [[ "$3" == "--create-tags" ]]; then
+    create_tags=true
+fi
+
+# Git operations (only skip in dry-run)
+if [[ "${DRY_RUN:-}" != "true" ]]; then
+    if [[ "$create_tags" == "true" ]]; then
+        # Tag creation mode
+        git checkout main
+        git pull --ff-only upstream main
+        echo "About to create and push tags: $v1 and $v2"
+        echo "This will run:"
+        echo "  git tag $v1 -s -m \"Release $v1\""
+        echo "  git tag $v2 -s -m \"Release $v2\""
+        echo "  git push upstream $v1 $v2"
+        echo ""
+        read -p "Continue? (y/N): " -n 1 -r
+        echo
+        if [[ $REPLY =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
+            git tag "$v1" -s -m "Release $v1"
+            git tag "$v2" -s -m "Release $v2"
+            git push upstream "$v1" "$v2"
+            echo "Tags created and pushed successfully!"
+        else
+            echo "Tag creation cancelled."
+        fi
+    else
+        # PR creation mode
+        # Generate changelog 
+        make changelog > changelog_content.tmp
+
+        # Update CHANGELOG.md directly (no awk complexity)
+        current_date=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d")
+        echo "## $v1 / $v2 ($current_date)" > new_changelog.md
+        echo "" >> new_changelog.md  
+        cat changelog_content.tmp >> new_changelog.md
+        echo "" >> new_changelog.md
+        cat CHANGELOG.md >> new_changelog.md
+        mv new_changelog.md CHANGELOG.md
+
+        # Update jaeger-ui submodule
+        git submodule update --init jaeger-ui
+        cd jaeger-ui
+        git checkout main  
+        git pull
+        cd ..
+
+        git checkout -b "prepare-release-$v1-$v2"
+        git add CHANGELOG.md jaeger-ui
+        git commit -m "Prepare release $v1 / $v2"
+        git push origin "prepare-release-$v1-$v2"
+        gh pr create --title "Prepare release $v1 / $v2" --label changelog:skip
+        echo ""
+        echo "PR created successfully. After merging the PR, run:"
+        echo "bash ./scripts/release/prepare.sh $v1 $v2 --create-tags"
+    fi
+else
+    echo "DRY RUN: Changes made locally. Would create PR for prepare-release-$v1-$v2"
+fi
+
+# Cleanup
+rm -f changelog_content.tmp
diff --git a/scripts/release/start.sh b/scripts/release/start.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index ce10e18b336..8aab9e55be2
--- a/scripts/release/start.sh
+++ b/scripts/release/start.sh
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ if ! current_version_v1=$(make "echo-v1"); then
 fi
 
 # removing the v so that in the line "New version: v1.66.1", v cannot be removed with backspace
-clean_version="${current_version_v1#v}" 
+clean_version="${current_version_v1#v}"
 
 IFS='.' read -r major minor patch <<< "$clean_version"
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ if ! current_version_v2=$(make "echo-v2"); then
 fi
 
 # removing the v so that in the line "New version: v1.66.1", v cannot be removed with backspace
-clean_version="${current_version_v2#v}" 
+clean_version="${current_version_v2#v}"
 
 IFS='.' read -r major minor patch <<< "$clean_version"
 
@@ -60,22 +60,39 @@ echo "Using new version: ${new_version}"
 
 
 
-TMPFILE=$(mktemp "/tmp/DOC_RELEASE.XXXXXX") 
-wget -O "$TMPFILE" https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jaegertracing/documentation/main/RELEASE.md
+cmd_v1="v${user_version_v1}"
+cmd_v2="v${user_version_v2}"
 
-# Ensure the UI Release checklist is up to date.
-make init-submodules
+issue_body=$(cat << EOF
+## Prepare Jaeger Release ${cmd_v1} / ${cmd_v2}
 
-issue_body=$(python scripts/release/formatter.py "${TMPFILE}" "${user_version_v1}" "${user_version_v2}")
+This issue tracks the release of Jaeger ${cmd_v1} / ${cmd_v2}.
+
+**Automated option**: Run \`bash ./scripts/release/prepare.sh ${cmd_v1} ${cmd_v2}\` to automatically create the PR with changelog updates.
+
+**Manual option**: Follow the [manual release preparation steps](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/blob/main/RELEASE.md#manual-release-preparation-steps) in \`RELEASE.md\`.
+
+---
+
+### Tagging
+
+After merging the PR, create signed tags and push them:
+
+```bash
+bash ./scripts/release/prepare.sh ${cmd_v1} ${cmd_v2} --create-tags
+EOF
+)
 
 if $dry_run; then
-  echo "${issue_body}"
+  printf "%s\n" "${issue_body}"
+  exit 0
 else
-  gh issue create -R jaegertracing/jaeger --title "Prepare Jaeger Release ${new_version}" --body "$issue_body"
+  issue_output=$(gh issue create -R jaegertracing/jaeger --title "Prepare Jaeger Release ${new_version}" --body "$issue_body")
+  issue_number=$(echo "$issue_output" | grep -o '#[0-9]*' | head -1)
+  echo "Created tracking issue: $issue_output"
+  echo ""
+  echo "Next step: Run the following command:"
+  echo "bash ./scripts/release/prepare.sh ${cmd_v1} ${cmd_v2}"
 fi
 
-rm "${TMPFILE}"
-
-exit 1;
-