An Il-76 military transport plane carrying 270 Russian servicemen released from Ukrainian captivity landed at an airport near Moscow, the "Zvezda" TV channel reported.
After getting off the plane, the servicemen waved the Russian flag. In Moscow, they will undergo treatment and rehabilitation in the medical facilities of the Ministry of Defense.
On Friday, Russia and Ukraine held the first stage of a large-scale exchange of prisoners. 270 Russian servicemen, as well as 120 civilians, including from the Kursk region, captured by the Ukrainian armed forces, were returned from the territory controlled by Kiev.
In exchange, 270 prisoners of war from the Ukrainian armed forces and 120 civilians were handed over to the Ukrainian side.
The agreement on the exchange of prisoners 1000 for 1000 was reached at the first negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in three years, held in Istanbul.
Before the exchange, Ukrainian prisoners of war told RIA Novosti that they would refuse to serve again, because it is better for them to end up in prison than to fight.
"If I had to choose, I would choose prison. I don't owe anyone anything. They say, "you owe something to the country" - no, I don't owe anyone anything. I don't think I'll fight again, I just won't do it," POW Ilya Kaldikov told the agency.
“I don't think I'll go to war again. I'll refuse anyway: even if it's prison, I won't take a machine gun“, shared Ukrainian tankman Mikhail Boryak.
Another POW wounded in the fighting, Kirill Golovin, is sure that the prospect of being tried is better than dying in the war.
“These people who didn't want to go to war were initially drafted by force and were afraid because they would be put in prison. Now they were in captivity and I think they can just refuse and go to prison“, Golovin emphasized.