Ukraine has introduced that 215 Ukrainian and international residents have been launched by Russia in a prisoner change, together with fighters who led the defence of Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks that turned an icon of Ukrainian resistance.
Russia obtained 55 prisoners together with Viktor Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian lawmaker and ally of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin accused of excessive treason, the Ukrainian chief, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, stated in his day by day deal with.
Medvedchuk was arrested in April, after escaping home arrest on treason expenses days after the Russian invasion. On the time, Zelenskiy recommended exchanging him for Ukrainian prisoners of battle held by Russia however the Kremlin rejected the provide.
In Might, Azov fighters surrendered after an extended siege of the steelworks and have been transferred to Russian-held territory.
The swap is the most important change between the warring sides because the begin of Russia’s invasion in February.
“We’ve managed to liberate 215 folks,” the Ukrainian presidency’s chief of workers, Andriy Yermak, introduced on tv.
Zelenskiy stated 5 navy commanders together with leaders of the defence of Azovstal have been taken to Turkey as a part of an operation agreed with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The launched prisoners would stay in Turkey “in complete safety and in snug situations” till the tip of the battle, he added. There was no remark from Moscow.
Ten prisoners of battle together with 5 Britons and two People, who have been transferred from Russia to Saudi Arabia earlier on Wednesday, have been a part of the swap deal, Zelenskiy stated.
On Tuesday, Erdogan informed US tv that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to swap 200 prisoners in one of many largest exchanges of the seven-month-old battle.
Mariupol, a port metropolis on the Sea of Azov in south-eastern Ukraine, withstood weeks of relentless Russian bombardment, with resistance concentrated in a dense community of underground tunnels at its Azovstal metal plant.
Ukrainian forces’ longstanding refusal to give up regardless of shortages of ammunition and provides earned them reward throughout the nation for his or her heroism in defying overwhelming odds towards Russia’s superior numbers and firepower.
With Agence France-Presse
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