.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed Friday that 49 Ukrainian POWs had actually been returned from Russia, with AFP observing the team being greeted at the border with Belarus.Zelensky performed certainly not clarify whether it became part of an exchange with Russia, as is generally the scenario, yet AFP reporters had earlier found Russian hostages being filled onto a bus near the border.It would be the second substitution in between the warring countries since Kyiv's shock incursion right into Russia's Kursk region.Zelensky stated civilians were actually also among the returnees, featuring a "gal that was taken hostage when she concerned handle her sick father.".He mentioned the swap also included fighters from Mariupol's 2022 Azovstal war, and also soldiers, perimeter protectors and also law enforcement officers.AFP contacted 2 women in their 20s covered in Ukrainian flags as well as obtaining blossoms, who said they were at the Azovstal plant that fell to Russia after a siege in 2022." I am actually finally home, I can not think it," mentioned 28-year-old Tamara Miroshnikova, leader of an equipped car of Ukraine's National Protector, claimed.An additional female, 29-year-old Tetiana Bugay, said she was actually a medic at the Azov brigade that fought for Azovstal.Earlier, AFP saw the Ukrainian military steering Russian POWs in a bus, some were actually wearing hoods hiding their faces, which were cleared away as they were packed into a minivan.AFP talked with a few of all of them quickly, plus all those that spoke mentioned they were captured during the course of Ukraine's surprise Kursk onslaught last month.