.Ukrainian Head of state Volodymyr Zelensky introduced Friday that 49 Ukrainian POWs had actually been actually returned from Russia, with AFP experiencing the team being actually welcomed at the boundary with Belarus.Zelensky did not clear up whether it became part of an exchange with Russia, as is actually typically the case, however AFP reporters had previously viewed Russian hostages being actually filled onto a bus near the border.It will be the second substitution between the challenging nations due to the fact that Kyiv's surprise attack right into Russia's Kursk region.Zelensky mentioned private citizens were additionally one of the returnees, featuring a "woman who was taken hostage when she pertained to take care of her ill daddy.".He said the substitution also consisted of boxers from Mariupol's 2022 Azovstal fight, as well as soldiers, perimeter protections as well as police officers.AFP talked with 2 females in their 20s wrapped in Ukrainian flags and also getting florals, that claimed they went to the Azovstal vegetation that fell to Russia after a siege in 2022." I am actually finally home, I can't think it," said 28-year-old Tamara Miroshnikova, commander of an armed car of Ukraine's National Guard, said.An additional female, 29-year-old Tetiana Bugay, stated she was actually a paramedic at the Azov brigade that fought for Azovstal.Previously, AFP found the Ukrainian military steering Russian POWs in a bus, some were actually using hoods concealing their faces, which were actually gotten rid of as they were actually filled into a minivan.AFP talked with a few of them temporarily, plus all those that talked claimed they were captured in the course of Ukraine's shock Kursk offensive final month.