This was the 59th prisoner exchange since the full-scale invasion began and one of the biggest so far.
On the Ukrainian side, those released included soldiers, border guards, National Guardsmen and Navy servicemen. Many had been in captivity for more than two-and-a-half years, and Ukrainian officials said some had returned with serious illnesses and injuries.
For some families, the agonising uncertainty has come to an end. But thousands more Ukrainians remain in captivity in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine.
Officials in Kyiv told the BBC that negotiations about prisoner exchanges have become more difficult in recent months – ever since Russian forces began to make significant advances on the battlefield.
Ukraine does not publish numbers of prisoners of war being held by Russia, but the total is thought to be more than 8,000.
Denys Prokopenko, commander of Ukraine’s 12th Special Forces Azov Brigade that defended Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant before it was captured by Russian forces, said on X, external that 11 of the brigade’s men were returned in the swap.
Prokopenko was released in a prisoner swap in 2022.