Russian-Ukraine swap 215 prisoners of war including British, US nationals
Russian and Ukraine have swapped 215 prisoners, among them British and US nationals. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this in his daily address. He said the liberated fighters include those who defended Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks against the Russian troops – but who eventually captured it.
The Ukrainian leader stated that Russia received 55 prisoners including Viktor Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian lawmaker and ally of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin accused of high treason.
Medvedchuk was arrested in April, after escaping house arrest on treason charges days after the Russian invasion.
The swap is the biggest exchange between the warring sides since the start of Russia’s invasion in February.
“We have managed to liberate 215 people,” the Ukrainian presidency’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, announced on television.
Zelenskiy said five military commanders including leaders of the defence of Azovstal were taken to Turkey as part of an operation agreed with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The released prisoners would remain in Turkey “in total security and in comfortable conditions” until the end of the war, he said. Ten prisoners of war including five Britons and two Americans, who were transferred from Russia to Saudi Arabia earlier on Wednesday were also part of the swap deal, Zelenskiy said.
.Guardian UK
