Russia and Ukraine exchanged 540 prisoners of war, with 270 military personnel from each side, in the latest exchange between the two countries since the outbreak of the war, despite ongoing military confrontations and stalled efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on (Friday) that 270 Russian soldiers were released by Ukrainian captivity, in exchange for the handover of 270 prisoners of war from the Ukrainian armed forces, according to the Russian news agency "Interfax."

It added that the returning Russian military personnel are currently in Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance, under the supervision of the Russian Human Rights Commissioner, Yana Lantratova, before being transferred to Russia to complete treatment and rehabilitation in medical facilities affiliated with the Ministry of Defense.

The Russian announcement did not include additional details regarding the conditions of the exchange, while the referenced reports did not provide independent details about the conditions of the Ukrainian prisoners who were returned to their country.

Prisoner exchanges are one of the limited humanitarian communication channels that still exist between Moscow and Kyiv since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war in February 2022, as both sides continued to make agreements to return detained military personnel, despite disagreements over the terms for ending the war.

The two countries exchanged 103 military personnel from each side on August 19, with the Russian military personnel being transferred to Belarus at that time to receive medical and psychological care before their return to Russia.

The new exchange comes just one day after a separate exchange of the bodies of soldiers killed during the war; Ukraine announced on October 22 that it received the bodies of 252 of its soldiers, in exchange for returning 25 bodies to Russia, in an operation that took place at the Novaya Huta border point in Belarus.