President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought home from Turkey on Saturday five former commanders of Ukraine’s garrison in Mariupol, a highly symbolic achievement that Russia said violated a prisoner exchange deal engineered last year.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy speaks on the day he meets with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov at the Bulgarian government building in Sofia, Bulgaria, July 6, 2023.Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy speaks on the day he meets with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov at the Bulgarian government building in Sofia, Bulgaria, July 6, 2023.
The five commanders have been lionised in Ukraine after leading a fierce three-month defence of Mariupol from the Azovstal steel plant last year, the biggest city Russia has captured. Moscow freed some of them in September in a prisoner swap brokered by Ankara, under terms that required the commanders to remain in Turkey until the end of the war.
In his remarks, Zelenskyy gave no explanation for why the commanders were allowed to return home now. Turkey’s Directorate of Communications did not respond to a request for comment.In a ceremony later alongside the men in the western city of Lviv, Zelenskyy thanked Erdogan for helping secure their release and pledged to bring home all remaining prisoners.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken marked the 500 days by describing Russia as “the sole obstacle to a just and lasting peace” and promising to back Kyiv “for as long as it takes”.
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