“Our people are back. 207 of them”: Vladimir Zelensky said in a social media post. (document)

Kiev, Ukraine:

Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war on Wednesday, just a week after Moscow said Kiev shot down a plane carrying dozens of captured Ukrainian soldiers.

The Russian Defense Ministry said 195 soldiers were freed, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 207 people, including soldiers and civilians, had returned to Ukraine.

“Our people are back. 207 of them. We will get them home no matter what,” Zelensky said in a social media post.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said that “195 Russian military personnel… have returned home.”

Uncertainty remains over the circumstances of last week’s crash, in which a Russian Il-76 military transport plane was shot down in an area near its western border with Ukraine.

Moscow said 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed on their way to a planned exchange site and the plane was shot down by Kiev forces.

Kyiv did not outright deny Moscow’s version of events but questioned whether the captured Ukrainian soldiers were actually on board the ship and called on Moscow to release photos of their bodies or provide other evidence to support its claims.

The incident raised questions about the future of the prisoner swap.

Ukraine said Wednesday’s exchange was the 50th between the two sides since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

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