Liberated Russian captives waved flags of the USSR and the Russian Empire

A short video, published by the Russian Ministry of Defense, shows Russian troops descending from buses and posing with the Russian flag, as well as with the flags of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire, Reuters reports.

The exchange on Saturday was announced by the Russian Ministry of Defense and separately by Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski in a publication on the social media platform « Telegram ».

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the released Russian captives were taken to Belarus, where they would be made medical research before being returned to Russia. The military released on Friday arrived in the vicinity of Moscow in the evening of the same day.

And Ukrainian flags

Images published by Zelenski’s office show liberated Ukrainian soldiers arriving by buses at a pre-negotiated unspecified place in Ukraine, where they are hugged and tossed with blue-yellow Ukrainian flags.

Reuters

At least one of the released is seen crying. Many talk about phones that are given to them by those who meet them to contact their loved ones. « I can’t believe I’m home, » a man said.

If it is full, the exchange will be the largest since the beginning of the war in 2022.

The previous larger exchange was carried out on May 6, when 205 captives from both sides came home after successful mediation from the United Arab Emirates.