Ukrainian authorities and Russia-backed separatists in the war-torn east of Ukraine have exchanged 200 prisoners, swapping detained fighters for civilians and service personnel held captive in some cases for years.

The exchange provoked outrage in government-held Ukraine after Kyiv handed over to separatists five riot police suspected of killing protesters during a pro-western uprising in 2014 as part of the swap.

“The mutual release of the detainees has ended,” the Ukrainian presidential office said in a statement on Facebook, specifying that Kyiv received 76 captives. Separatist officials said the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk received 124.

Stanyslav Aseyev and Oleg Galazyuk, journalists who contributed to the Ukrainian service of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, were also freed by rebels.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, hailed the swap as “positive” in a joint statement.

The exchange came after Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, held their first face-to-face talks in Paris on 9 December and agreed measures to de-escalate Europe’s only active war.

Prisoners filed off coaches at the Mayorske checkpoint in the eastern Donetsk region, many carrying plastic bags stuffed with their belongings, as uniformed soldiers and ambulances were on standby.

Among the group of detainees handed over by the separatists were those who said they had been held for several years after getting caught up in the conflict while visiting relatives.

Volodymyr Danylchenko, who said he had spent three years in captivity, said he was at a loss for words. “I myself don’t understand what’s happened,” said the 36-year-old, adding that he was leaving his mother behind in Lugansk.

Another detainee released by the separatists, who gave her name as Victoria, said she had been held for three years. “I am so happy,” the 24-year-old said. She said she had been convicted of “state treason” and sentenced to 12 years in prison after arriving in the Lugansk region to see her parents.

Another woman being handed to Kyiv sported a handwritten sign on her clothing: “My country is Ukraine!”

The December summit between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, mediated by France and Germany, was the first of its kind in three years.

The latest swap comes three months after Ukraine carried out a long-awaited exchange with Russia of 35 prisoners each. In 2017 more than 230 separatists were swapped for more than 70 of their counterparts.

Ties between Ukraine and Russia were shredded after the 2014 uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime. Moscow went on to annex Crimea and support insurgents in eastern Ukraine, who had launched a bid for independence. Since then more than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The release of the riot police has raised concerns in Ukraine, with many fearing the country is being pushed to pay too high a price for the swap. The officers are suspected to have been involved in a crackdown on protesters in 2014. About 100 demonstrators were shot dead during the uprising.

Before the swap, the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said the trial of the five suspects would continue, and the defendants would still have to appear in court.

Three former riot police officers had earlier been released from custody while another two had been freed from house arrest. About 200 people protesting against the release of the officers gathered near the detention centre in Kyiv where the three suspects were held. “This country has no future,” Volodymyr Golodnyuk, the father of a 19-year protester who was killed in the uprising, wrote on Facebook.

In an open letter to Zelenskiy, victims’ families warned that the release of the suspects could lead to a “wave of protests”.

Since coming to power in May, the former comedian has sought to kickstart a peace process to end the conflict.