.Ukrainian Head of state Volodymyr Zelensky introduced Friday that 49 Ukrainian POWs had been actually returned coming from Russia, along with AFP seeing the team being actually welcomed at the boundary along with Belarus.Zelensky did certainly not clarify whether it became part of an exchange along with Russia, as is usually the case, yet AFP writers had actually earlier seen Russian hostages being packed onto a bus near the edge.It will be the second swap in between the challenging countries since Kyiv's shock incursion into Russia's Kursk location.Zelensky stated civilians were also amongst the returnees, consisting of a "lady that was actually taken hostage when she related to care for her sick dad.".He pointed out the substitution likewise included competitors coming from Mariupol's 2022 Azovstal struggle, along with soldiers, perimeter protections and law enforcement officers.AFP talked with two women in their 20s covered in Ukrainian flags as well as obtaining blooms, who said they went to the Azovstal vegetation that was up to Russia after a siege in 2022." I'm lastly home, I can't feel it," said 28-year-old Tamara Miroshnikova, commander of an armed auto of Ukraine's National Guard, stated.One more woman, 29-year-old Tetiana Bugay, said she was a medic at the Azov unit that defended Azovstal.Previously, AFP saw the Ukrainian army steering Russian POWs in a bus, some were putting on hoods concealing their faces, which were cleared away as they were filled in to a minivan.AFP talked with several of them briefly, and all those who talked stated they were actually captured throughout Ukraine's shock Kursk onslaught final month.