Russia has released jailed pilot Nadiya Savchenko and she has been flown home as part of a swap for two Russian servicemen imprisoned in Ukraine.
A plane transporting her from Russia to Ukraine landed in Kiev at about 3 p.m. local time, President Petro Poroshenko said via Twitter.
“A presidential plane with Ukraine’s hero Nadiya Savchenko has landed,” Poroshenko said.
Earlier in the day, Kremlin-funded television station RT, citing unidentified sources, reported that two Russians also were released and are being flown to Moscow.
Livestream of Nadiya Savchenko’s arrival (feed in Ukrainian)
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Savchenko was captured by Russia-backed rebels while fighting with a volunteer Ukrainian battalion in Eastern Ukraine in 2014.
She was charged with complicity to murder two Russian journalists for allegedly calling in the co-ordinates for the shelling that killed them and several civilians in July 2014.
Her capture and trial became a rallying point for Ukrainians at home and abroad, and in March she was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
The ruling was condemned by Ukraine, the U.S. and others but quickly led to speculation about a possible prisoner swap.