.Ukrainian Head of state Volodymyr Zelensky announced Friday that 49 Ukrainian POWs had actually been actually returned coming from Russia, along with AFP seeing the team being welcomed at the boundary along with Belarus.Zelensky carried out not make clear whether it became part of a substitution along with Russia, as is actually typically the scenario, yet AFP writers had actually previously found Russian hostages being filled onto a bus near the border.It will be the 2nd exchange between the warring nations since Kyiv's surprise incursion right into Russia's Kursk location.Zelensky mentioned civilians were actually also amongst the returnees, featuring a "lady who was hijacked when she pertained to handle her ill father.".He mentioned the swap also consisted of competitors coming from Mariupol's 2022 Azovstal fight, and also soldiers, boundary protections and also policemans.AFP talked with 2 girls in their 20s wrapped in Ukrainian banners and getting florals, that said they went to the Azovstal plant that fell to Russia after a siege in 2022." I am actually ultimately home, I can't feel it," mentioned 28-year-old Tamara Miroshnikova, leader of an armed automobile of Ukraine's National Guard, said.Another female, 29-year-old Tetiana Bugay, said she was a paramedic at the Azov brigade that defended Azovstal.Previously, AFP observed the Ukrainian military steering Russian POWs in a bus, some were actually putting on hoods hiding their faces, which were actually gotten rid of as they were actually loaded into a minivan.AFP spoke with a number of them quickly, plus all those that communicated claimed they were actually taken captive in the course of Ukraine's surprise Kursk offensive last month.