Russia’s Ministry of Defence stated that returning Russian service members were undergoing medical checks in Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies throughout the two-and-half-year conflict. A Russian military video showed smiling soldiers boarding buses.

A video posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Telegram account, meanwhile, showed men, some wrapped in the Ukrainian flag, getting off a bus and hugging loved ones.

“Every time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we get closer to the day when freedom will be returned to all who are in Russian captivity,” the president said.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the exchange as “a reflection of the cooperative and friendly relations between the UAE and both countries”. It was its ninth time mediating such an exchange between Moscow and Kyiv.