By Ali Cura and Davit Kachkachishvili
MOSCOW/KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - Russia and Ukraine exchanged 202 prisoners of war Thursday, including a civilian, as part of the latest prisoner swap.
The Russian Defense Ministry said 101 Russian soldiers who were captured returned from the territory under the control of the Kyiv administration as a result of tough negotiations.
The soldiers will be transferred to Moscow by a Russian Air Forces plane for rehabilitation and treatment, it said.
The head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram: “We continue bringing Ukrainians back from captivity. Today a hundred of our warriors and one civilian are returning home.”
Sixty-three of the released prisoners had been captured in Russia’s siege of Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, said Yermak.
One civilian was among the released prisoners of war.