Ukraine and Russia began a major prisoner exchange Friday, which if completed would be the biggest swap since Moscow invaded more than three years ago.
Both sides received 390 people in this first stage and are expected to exchange 1,000 each in total under an agreement reached at direct talks in Istanbul last week.
Russia has signalled it will send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement after the swap, which is set to be staggered over three days.
The two enemies have held regular prisoner swaps since Russia launched its 2022 offensive — but none have been on this scale.
An AFP reporter saw some of the formerly captive Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a hospital in the northern Chernigiv region, emaciated but smiling and waiving to crowds waiting outside.
After stepping off the bus, tearful relatives rushed to embrace the soldiers while others held pictures of their loved ones, hoping to find out if they had been seen in captivity.
Many of the soldiers were draped in bright yellow and blue Ukrainian flags.
"The first stage of the '1,000-for-1,000' exchange agreement has been carried out," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.
"Today — 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the exchange to continue."
Russia said it had received 270 Russian troops and 120 civilians, including some from parts of its Kursk region captured and held by Kyiv for months. The two sides have not yet revealed the identities of those exchanged. US President Donald Trump earlier congratulated the two countries for the swap.
"This could lead to something big???" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump's efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe's biggest conflict since World War II have so far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.
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