Ukraine on Wednesday announced the exchange with Russia of 215 soldiers, including the defense chiefs of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, which has become a symbol of resistance to the Russian invasion.
“We managed to free 215 people,” the largest exchange since the start of the Russian invasion in February, the head of Ukraine’s presidential government, Andriï Yermak, announced on television.
In exchange, Russia got back 55 prisoners, including former deputy Viktor Medvedchuk, a close friend of Vladimir Putin, who was accused by Kiev of high treason, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily speech.
As part of this “long-prepared operation,” five “superhero” military commanders, including Azovstal’s defense chiefs, were transferred to Turkey, Zelensky added.
These people will remain in Turkey “in absolute safety and comfortable conditions” until “the end of the war”, but they will be able to meet their families there, under the terms of an agreement with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ten foreign prisoners of war (five British, two Americans, a Moroccan, a Swede and a Croatian) will be transferred from Russia to Saudi Arabia as part of the exchange between Moscow and Kiev, the Ukrainian president also announced.
The last Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol, entrenched in the Azovstal industrial complex, surrendered to Russian forces between May 16 and 20, after three months of fierce fighting.
Source: DN
