Deputy of the State Duma, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, representative of the parliamentary coordinating group on NMD issues Shamsail Saraliyev was awarded a letter of thanks from the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergei Surovikin for his assistance to the High Command of the Aerospace Forces and the Command of the 6th Army Air Force and Air Defense in the release of flight personnel from captivity. The award was presented to Shamsail Saraliev by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Lieutenant General Alexander Maksimtsev.
Another exchange of prisoners of war with the personal participation of Shamsail Saraliyev took place on May 6. Three Russian pilots who had been in Ukrainian captivity for more than a year returned to their homeland: two lieutenant colonels, deputy regiment commanders and a major, an aviation commander.