.Ukrainian Head of state Volodymyr Zelensky announced Friday that 49 Ukrainian POWs had been actually returned from Russia, with AFP watching the group being actually greeted at the perimeter along with Belarus.Zelensky performed not make clear whether it became part of an exchange along with Russia, as is actually typically the case, but AFP journalists had actually previously seen Russian prisoners of war being filled onto a bus near the perimeter.It will be actually the second substitution between the challenging nations considering that Kyiv's unpleasant surprise attack in to Russia's Kursk location.Zelensky mentioned civilians were actually additionally one of the returnees, consisting of a "girl that was hijacked when she concerned look after her ill daddy.".He said the swap likewise included competitors from Mariupol's 2022 Azovstal fight, along with soldiers, border protections and law enforcement officers.AFP contacted pair of women in their 20s wrapped in Ukrainian banners as well as acquiring blooms, who claimed they went to the Azovstal vegetation that was up to Russia after a siege in 2022." I am actually ultimately home, I can not believe it," said 28-year-old Tamara Miroshnikova, commander of an armed car of Ukraine's National Guard, stated.An additional girl, 29-year-old Tetiana Bugay, stated she was actually a medic at the Azov brigade that defended Azovstal.Previously, AFP found the Ukrainian military driving Russian POWs in a bus, some were actually wearing hoods hiding their faces, which were removed as they were loaded into a minivan.AFP talked with several of all of them temporarily, and all those who spoke claimed they were captured during the course of Ukraine's surprise Kursk offensive last month.