On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned from Turkiye, bringing back five former leaders of Ukraine’s garrison in Mariupol, despite a prisoner exchange last year in which the men were supposed to remain in Turkiye.
Russia quickly condemned the men’s release. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Turkiye broke the prisoner exchange rules and neglected to notify Moscow.
The officers, hailed as heroes in Ukraine, commanded the defense of the port last year, the largest city Russia conquered in its invasion.
Thousands of civilians were killed inside Mariupol during the three-month siege by Russian soldiers.
Ukrainian fighters held out in tunnels and bunkers beneath the Azovstal steel complex until Kyiv ordered them to surrender in May of last year.
Some of them were released in September in a prisoner swap arranged by Ankara, with the condition that the leaders remain in Turkiye until the end of the war.
“We are returning home from Turkiye and bringing our heroes home,” said Zelensky who met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for talks in Istanbul on Friday.
“Ukrainian soldiers Denys Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Serhiy Volynsky, Oleh Khomenko, Denys Shleha. They will finally be with their relatives,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.
Peskov told Russia’s RIA news agency: “No one informed us about this. According to the agreements, these ringleaders were to remain on the territory of Turkiye until the end of the conflict.”
Peskov stated that the release was the result of intense pressure from Turkey’s NATO allies in the run-up to next week’s NATO summit, during which Ukraine wants to receive a favourable signal about its future membership.
Zelensky did not explain why the commanders were allowed to return home today in his statements. The Directorate of Communications in Turkiye did not reply quickly to a request for comment.
Zelensky shared a one-minute video of himself and other officials shaking hands and hugging the happy commanders as they boarded a Czech jet together.
On social media, many Ukrainians celebrated the news.
“Finally! The best news ever. Congratulations to our brothers!” Major Maksym Zhorin, who is now fighting in eastern Ukraine, stated on Telegram.
