Moscow swapped high-profile commanders of Mariupol’s Azov Regiment in return for a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the largest prisoner exchange since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in late February.
The deal that saw a total of 215 Ukrainians released included 188 defenders famously holed up for months in the key southern port’s Azovstal steel mill after Russian forces besieged the city.
Out of the 108 members of the Azov Regiment that were exchanged on Wednesday, five military commanders were transferred to Turkey, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
They will stay in this country “in absolute safety and in comfortable conditions until the end of the war” as part of an agreement brokered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the Ukrainian leader.
In return, Russia has received a total of 55 prisoners, including former Ukrainian MP Viktor Medvedchuk, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was accused of high treason in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in his daily address on Wednesday night.
Read more: Euronews
