This handout photograph taken and released by Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on Jan 3, 2024, shows Ukrainian soldiers released during a prisoner of war exchange with Russia. (Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE VIA AFP)

KYIV – Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday carried out their first exchange of prisoners of war in nearly five months, under which 230 Ukrainian captives including six civilians had been returned from Russian custody.

Among those freed are service people from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service and the National Police, the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Over 2,500 Ukrainians freed in prisoner exchanges with Russia

The exchange marked the first prisoner swap between the parties since August.

Acknowledging its role, the UAE foreign ministry said the swap was made possible by its "strong friendly relations" with both Moscow and Kyiv

More than 2,800 Ukrainians taken captive in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have been released so far as a result of prisoner exchanges. 

Russia's Defense Ministry said 248 military personnel had been handed over by Ukraine. 

On the Russian side, a Defense Ministry statement said its released prisoners would undergo medical checks and treatment.

Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova thanked President Vladimir Putin and the military and intelligence services for their efforts in the exchange.

The UAE's foreign ministry acknowledged its role, saying in a statement that the swap was made possible by its "strong friendly relations" with both Moscow and Kyiv.

It offered both further humanitarian efforts and to find a peaceful solution to the war.

Separately, the Ukrainian Navy said the actions to clear the Black Sea and its neighboring Sea of Azov from mines would take up to five years.

This grab taken from a handout footage released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Jan 3, 2024 shows Russian prisoners of war inside a bus at the Russian-Ukrainian state border in the Belgorod region following a swap. (RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY VIA AFP)

"The demining of the maritime communication routes and trade routes will last an estimated 3-5 months, while the comprehensive demining operation will take 3-5 years," the Ukrayinska Pravda media outlet quoted Ukrainian navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk as saying.

The mine-clearing operation is currently at the planning stage, Pletenchuk said, adding that the headquarters of the operation has been established already.

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Mines and other explosives have been drifting in the Black Sea since February 2022 due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Last week, two sailors were injured after a Panama-flagged grain ship hit a floating mine in the Black Sea near the Ukrainian coast.

With Reuters inputs