Russia and Ukraine conducted a major exchange of prisoners on Saturday, 206 in all, in their second such swap in two days, following negotiations mediated by the United Arab Emirates, officials said, Paralel.Az reports citing Reuters.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that all 103 Ukrainians returned were from the military - 82 soldiers and privates and 21 officers.

Russian Defence Ministry said that the 103 Russian soldiers exchanged had been taken prisoner in the border Kursk region where Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion in August.

"Our people are home," Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app. "We have successfully brought back another 103 warriors from Russian captivity to Ukraine."

Zelenskyy posted pictures of servicemen wrapped in the national blue and yellow flag, hugging each other, talking on mobile phones and posing for group photographs at an undisclosed location.

The exchange was mediated by the UAE, Emirati state news agency WAM said. It was the country's eighth such mediation since the start of 2024, it said.