.Ukrainian Head of state Volodymyr Zelensky introduced Friday that 49 Ukrainian POWs had been actually returned from Russia, with AFP witnessing the team being greeted at the border with Belarus.Zelensky did not clarify whether it belonged to a swap along with Russia, as is typically the scenario, but AFP writers had earlier seen Russian prisoners of war being actually packed onto a bus near the edge.It would certainly be actually the 2nd substitution in between the warring countries given that Kyiv's surprise attack in to Russia's Kursk region.Zelensky pointed out civilians were additionally one of the returnees, including a "gal who was taken hostage when she related to take care of her unwell father.".He pointed out the exchange likewise featured boxers coming from Mariupol's 2022 Azovstal battle, as well as soldiers, boundary guards as well as police officers.AFP contacted two ladies in their 20s covered in Ukrainian flags and receiving florals, who said they went to the Azovstal plant that fell to Russia after a siege in 2022." I am actually eventually home, I can not think it," pointed out 28-year-old Tamara Miroshnikova, leader of an armed motor vehicle of Ukraine's National Protector, stated.One more female, 29-year-old Tetiana Bugay, said she was actually a paramedic at the Azov unit that fought for Azovstal.Previously, AFP observed the Ukrainian military driving Russian POWs in a bus, some were actually wearing bonnets hiding their skins, which were actually gotten rid of as they were filled right into a minivan.AFP talked to a few of them temporarily, plus all those that talked said they were captured during Ukraine's shock Kursk onslaught final month.