Russia confirms the return to the country of 55 soldiers released in the exchange of prisoners
kyiv and Moscow have agreed to exchange 215 Ukrainian prisoners for the pro-Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who has been in prison since April 12. In the operation in which 108 soldiers from the Azov Battalion have also been released. This was announced on Thursday by the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, in a statement.
“This is the most powerful result in terms of prisoner release since the start of the full-scale invasion,” Yermak said in remarks reported by Ukrinform. Among the 215 released prisoners, 108 belonged to the Azov Battalion, 10 were foreign volunteers, while the rest belonged to other formations of the National Guard of Ukraine, as well as servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Almost all the soldiers are already on Ukrainian territory, except for five of the commanders of the Azov Battalion, who, according to the agreements previously reached with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are in Turkey “under his personal guarantees of protection”, according to the aforementioned newspaper.
However, the exchange has been possible after Ukraine handed over Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian politician who was detained accused of “high treason” in relation to his alleged role as a collaborator with Russian forces in the context of the war with Ukraine. . “Today we directly exchanged 200 citizens of Ukraine for Mr. Medvedchuk. I would like to point out that Medvedchuk is not just Putin’s godfather, but a well-documented state traitor. His guilt is fully registered », Yermak assured in the letter.
“Traitors to the State”
Thus, he pointed out that, during Medvedchuk’s arrest, “several intelligence networks” have been neutralized and “state traitors” have been arrested, obtaining “a large amount of information” used in counterintelligence activities.
For his part, the spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, confirmed that “as a result of a complex negotiation process, 55 military personnel from the Russian Armed Forces and from the Donetsk and Lugansk republics who were in mortal danger have returned from the territory of Ukraine controlled by the kyiv regime. »At the moment, all military personnel have been transferred to Russian territory with military transport planes and are in medical institutions of the Russian Ministry of Defense«, Konashenkov has detailed, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax.
Likewise, he has emphasized that all those released in the framework of the prisoner exchange with Ukraine have had the opportunity to contact their family and are receiving medical and psychological care.
The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, has welcomed the agreement, which he has described as “a victory for society.” “We are bringing our people home. Exchange just finished. Today we have 215 good news. 215! This is clearly a victory for our state, for our entire society,” Zelensky said, according to a statement released by the country’s Presidency.
The president of Ukraine has indicated that “the most important thing” is that 215 families “will be able to see their loved ones again safely”, assuring that the exchange is part of “the essence” of the country. However, Zelenski has detailed that the operation had been “quite a long time” in preparation, and has pointed out that “it is not a pity to give Medvedchuk for true warriors.”
“(Medvedchuk) went through all the investigative steps provided for by law. Ukraine received from him everything necessary to establish the truth in the framework of criminal proceedings,” the President of Ukraine said. In this regard, he announced that Ukraine has agreed with Turkey that the five commanders who have not yet arrived on Ukrainian territory remain on Turkish territory in “complete security, in comfortable conditions and under the personal protection of the President of Turkey” until the end of war.
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