Russia and Ukraine have carried out an exchange of prisoners of war. In it Russia returned 215 Ukrainian soldiers and received in exchange pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk and 55 Russian troops, as reported by the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office Andrii Yermak.
Among the Ukrainian troops released by Russia are defenders and commanders of Azovstal, pregnant female troops and 10 foreigners who had fought in the ranks of the Ukrainian army.
Ukrainian troops defended steel factory Azovstal in Mariupol for a long time until the city was taken by Russian forces.
For many years Medvedchuk was an influential politician in Ukraine. He is also a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He is also the godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in his video address on Wednesday, 21 September, that five commanders of Mariupol’s defenders include Serhij Volinsky, Svyatoslav Palamar, Deniss Prokopenko, Oleh Homenko and Deniss Shleha. All of them will remain in Turkey until the end of the war, according to the agreement reached between Ukraine and Russia.
«Ukraine and Turkey reached an agreement that five our commanders that were released from Russian prison will be safe, in comfort and under personal protection from Turkey’s president until the end of the war. We will provide their families with opportunities to meet with them,» said Zelenskyy.
According to Yermak, 200 Ukrainian troops were exchanged for Medvedchuk and five Azovstal commanders were exchanged for 55 Russian prisoners of war.
«Together with more than 200 Ukrainian troops we’ve secured the release of five British citizens, two American citizens and one citizen each from Sweden, Croatia and Morocco,» he added, thanking Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his personal involvement.
Turkish news agency Anadoly cited Erdogan, who said the exchange of POWs is «an important step» towards ending the armed conflict.
The foreigners released from Russian prison were delivered to Saudi Arabia’s city of Riyadh, Yermak said.
Zelenskyy said the exchange operation took a long time to coordinate, adding that the there were several components to it.
«The first component: we exchange one Russian fan for 200 troops. The first offer was giving us back 50 of our people in exchange for one person held by Ukraine’s Security Service. We spoke, we insisted. The number 50 increased to 200. Now they are back in Ukraine,» said Zelenskyy.
«The second component – aside from 200 troops, we also recovered five commanders for which we’ve had to fight the most and for the longest time. They were at risk of the worst. To return them we had to give away 55 of those who deserve no mercy, no compassion, no words,» said Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian president also commented on the release of 10 foreign POWs. He reminded that the enemy had sentenced them to either a long prison sentence or death penalty.
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