.Ukrainian Head of state Volodymyr Zelensky declared Friday that 49 Ukrainian POWs had been actually come back from Russia, with AFP witnessing the team being actually welcomed at the perimeter with Belarus.Zelensky performed not make clear whether it became part of an exchange along with Russia, as is generally the case, yet AFP writers had actually previously found Russian prisoners of war being actually loaded onto a bus near the border.It would be actually the 2nd substitution in between the warring countries given that Kyiv's unpleasant surprise attack right into Russia's Kursk location.Zelensky stated civilians were also amongst the returnees, featuring a "female who was taken hostage when she pertained to look after her ill papa.".He stated the swap likewise included boxers coming from Mariupol's 2022 Azovstal fight, in addition to soldiers, boundary guards and policemans.AFP spoke to 2 ladies in their 20s wrapped in Ukrainian banners and acquiring blooms, who said they were at the Azovstal plant that fell to Russia after a siege in 2022." I'm eventually home, I can not feel it," claimed 28-year-old Tamara Miroshnikova, leader of an armed vehicle of Ukraine's National Shield, mentioned.An additional girl, 29-year-old Tetiana Bugay, stated she was actually a medic at the Azov brigade that defended Azovstal.Previously, AFP saw the Ukrainian army steering Russian POWs in a bus, some were actually putting on bonnets concealing their faces, which were cleared away as they were packed in to a minivan.AFP contacted a number of all of them quickly, plus all those who spoke mentioned they were captured during the course of Ukraine's surprise Kursk aggression last month.