Ukraine, Russia exchange prisoners; bodies of slain volunteers returned

Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Russia and Ukraine on Saturday completed a prisoner exchange in which 116 Ukrainians were returned to Kyiv while the bodies of two slain foreign civilian aid workers were also repatriated.

In exchange, 63 Russian soldiers were released back to Moscow, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced.

"We managed to return 116 of our people, defenders of Mariupol, Kherson guerrillas, snipers from the Bakhmut area, and other heroes of ours," Ukrainian presidential office chief Andriy Yermak announced in social media posts.

Additionally, Russia returned the bodies of two civilian volunteers, Christopher Parry of Britain and Andrew Bagshaw of New Zealand, who were killed trying to evacuate civilians from Soledar, Ukraine.

"We managed to return the bodies of foreign volunteers -- Christopher Matthew Perry and Andrew Tobias Matthew, as well as the body of a Ukrainian volunteer solider who served with the French Foreign Legion and after the start of a full-scale Russian evasion returned to defend Ukraine," Yermak said.

Thousands of Ukrainians are believed to remain in Russian captivity.