Ukrainian servicemen sit in a bus after returning from captivity during a POWs exchange in Sumy region, Ukraine, on May 31, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Russia and Ukraine announced on Friday they had exchanged dozens of prisoners of war, in one of the only areas of dialogue between the warring countries.

Despite full-scale hostilities, the two sides have carried out more than 50 prisoner exchanges since Russia launched its offensive on Ukraine more than two years ago.

Recent swaps have been hampered by claims of unfair demands from both sides and after Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of shooting down a plane in Russia in January delivering Ukrainian prisoners to an exchange point.

“Today we have an important result — 75 more of our people have returned to Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.

He posted images showing the returned servicemen draped in Ukrainian flags and being greeted by family members holding blue and yellow flowers.

The Russian Defence Ministry said it had secured the release of 75 of its military personnel, whom it claimed were “in mortal danger” in detention in Ukraine.

Moscow also confirmed it had returned 75 Ukrainian servicemen to Kyiv and said that the United Arab Emirates mediated the exchange, as had been the case with previous swaps.