On Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged 175 prisoners of war in one of the largest swaps since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war three years ago.

The released soldiers had been captured in various regions, including Mariupol, the Azovstal steel plant, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and even Kursk.

In his first comment, Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the release of all prisoners of war and civilians would be an important step toward peace.