ST. PETERSBURG, June 6. /TASS/. A total of 1,348 Russian soldiers and officers are held as prisoners of war (POW) in Ukraine, whereas 6,465 Ukrainian servicemen are POWs in Russia, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the heads of international news agencies, which was organized by TASS.

"I can tell you the exact number of those people who are being held by both parties, or, put simply, are in captivity. There are 1,348 of our soldiers and officers in Ukraine," he said.

"I know these numbers as we work with them every day, and just recently, you know, there was an exchange: 75 people for 75 people. We have 6,465 Ukrainian soldiers," Putin said.

On June 1, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the service members who were released from Ukrainian captivity on May 31 were airlifted to Moscow on board the military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces. As a result of the talks brokered by the United Arab Emirates, 75 Russian servicemen who were POWs returned home.