Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners

MOSCOW – Russia and Ukraine have exchanged four prisoners in a move co-ordinated by their governments.

The swap follows last month’s release of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko after two years in a Russian prison. Savchenko was swapped for two Russians convicted of fighting in eastern Ukraine.

In Tuesday’s exchange, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin pardoned Gennady Afanasyev, who was convicted on charges of sabotage, and Yuri Soloshenko, convicted on espionage charges. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko welcomed them in Kyiv after their return.

Ukraine, in turn, freed two imprisoned pro-Russia Ukrainian journalists from Odesa, Elena Glishchinskaya and Vitaly Didenko. They were flown to Moscow. Glishchinskaya travelled with her newborn baby.

Russia and Ukraine have remained locked in a tug-of-war following Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and support for insurgents in eastern Ukraine.