MOSCOW, September 9 (RAPSI) – Return of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners and detainees to their homelands must become a part of a system program of actions directed at conflict de-escalation, the countries’ relation normalization and stabilization of the environment in south-east Ukraine, according to Russia’s ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova.

The prisoner exchange was preceded by a hard diplomacy work started after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on July 11, 2019, Moskalkova said Monday.According to the rights commissioner, a meaningful cooperation was built between law enforcement bodies, foreign-policy establishment and ombudsmen in relation to the swap.

On September 7, 35 citizens of Russia and 35 nationals of Ukraine returned home from jail. In particular, the editor-in-chief of RIA Novosti Ukraine news agency Vyshinsky came to Moscow, while Russia released Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov convicted of terrorism and Ukrainian sailors involved in the case over illegal border crossing in the Kerch Strait.