A long-awaited swap of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine was underway on Saturday, sources and state media said, with 70 people involved in the landmark exchange.
A Ukrainian government source told AFP the swap was proceeding and that 35 people on each side would be exchanged.
A number of high-profile prisoners are expected to be part of the exchange.
Earlier Saturday an AFP journalist in Moscow saw two buses with tinted windows leaving the high-security Lefortovo jail escorted by a police convoy.
Russia’s state-run news channel Rossiya 24 said the convoy had departed “within the framework of preparations for a prisoner exchange”.
The channel said the buses had arrived at Moscow’s Vnukovo terminal for government flights, and that a Russian government plane had landed at Kiev’s Boryspil airport.
Anticipation has been building in recent days for the swap, which would be the first major exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine since the conflict over eastern Ukraine erupted in 2014.
It could be a crucial step in easing tensions between the ex-Soviet neighbours over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war with Moscow-backed separatists that has left more than 13,000 dead. The head of the defence team for 24 Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia last year told AFP they would be part of the swap.
“According to my information, they were put on a bus. All 24 of them,” Nikolai Polozov said, adding that he expected them to arrive \in Ukraine “in the next few hours”.