KYIV, Ukraine >> More than 200 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have returned home in a prisoner swap, the warring countries said Monday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said 106 Russian soldiers were released from Ukrainian custody as part of an agreement with Ukraine. Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, said that Russia freed 100 Ukrainian prisoners.

Neither announcement mentioned whether any intermediaries were involved in the agreement.

Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War alleged that almost half of the 80 men and 20 women soldiers who returned home “have serious injuries, illnesses or have been tortured.” It presented no evidence for its claims.

Such exchanges represent one of the few areas of cooperation between Ukraine and Russia. The two sides have returned hundreds of each other’s soldiers, as well as the bodies of fallen troops, since the war began.

– The Associated Press