It is the second such exchange since Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region on August 6.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 103 prisoners of war on each side, both countries confirmed, with the United Arab Emirates acting as an intermediary.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday it has exchanged 103 captive Ukrainian soldiers for an equal number of Russian prisoners of war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Our people are at home.”
The exchange of a total of 206 prisoners was facilitated in the eighth such mediation in the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf nation's foreign ministry said in a statement on social media platform X.
“We have successfully recovered another 103 soldiers from Russian captivity in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy posted on X on Saturday.
Among the freed Ukrainians were 82 soldiers and sergeants and 21 officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, border guards and police officers, he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that “103 Russian servicemen captured in the Kursk region were returned from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime,” adding that “in exchange, 103 prisoners of war from the Ukrainian army were handed over.”
Ukrainian forces crossed the border west of Kursk last month with the help of drones, heavy weapons and artillery, taking Russia by surprise.
The Russian prisoners of war were in Belarus “where they are provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance, as well as the opportunity to contact their families,” according to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow.
In August, the two countries exchanged 115 prisoners of war each, with the United Arab Emirates acting as intermediary.
Both sides have carried out regular prisoner exchanges through intermediaries since Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, despite the absence of peace talks between them since the early months of the conflict.
The UAE ministry said on Saturday that the total number of captives exchanged through its mediation efforts now stands at 1,994.
One of the largest exchanges took place on January 3, when the warring countries exchanged a total of 478 captives after mediation by the United Arab Emirates.
