KYIV: Ukraine’s President Zelensky has returned from a trip to Turkey, bringing five ex- commanders of Ukraine’s garrison in Mariupol despite a prisoner swap in 2022 under which the men were meant to remain in Turkey, Reuters reported on Saturday.
Zelensky Brings Home Commanders Released to Turkey
Moscow immediately censured the release of the commanders. In a statement, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Ankara had violated the terms of prisoner exchange and had failed to inform Russia.
The commanders, praised as heroes in Ukraine, led last year’s security of the port, the main city Russia took in its assault. Thousands of people were killed in Mariupol when Russian troops placed the city to waste during a 90-days blockade.
The defenders of Ukraine held out in bunkers and tunnels under the steel plant, until they were eventually ordered by Ukraine to surrender in May. Russia released some of them in September in a prisoner exchange brokered by Turkey, under terms that needed the arrested commanders to remain in Turkey until the end of the conflict.
“We are coming back home from Ankara and bringing our heroes Ukraine,” said President Zelensky who met Erdogan for dialogue in Istanbul on Friday.
In a statement via his social media account, he said, “Ukrainian soldiers Svyatoslav Palamar, Denys Prokopenko, Oleh Khomenko, Serhiy Volynsky, and Denys Shleha. They will be with their families,”.
Dmitry Peskov told Russian media: “As per the agreements, these men were to remain on the territory of Turkey until the end of the war.”
Zelensky also gave no explanation for why the prisoners were being permitted to return Ukraine now. Turkey’s Directorate of Communications also did not issue any statement over the development. Many people in Ukraine appreciated the news on social media.
