May 7. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, has assured this Saturday that they will “bring back” all the Ukrainians who are “under Russian captivity”.
“Today, our team has managed to recover 45 of our warriors from Russian captivity. 42 Ukrainian defender men and four defender women. All of them defended Azovstal,” Zelensky said in a presidential statement, in which he also thanked the team involved. in negotiations.
Zelensky’s statements refer to the prisoner exchange carried out this Saturday between Ukraine and Russia, consisting of the exchange of 45 Ukrainian soldiers — 35 privates and sergeants and ten officers — in exchange for three Russian fighter pilots captured by Kiev forces.
The agreement, which does not correspond to the usual modality of “one by one”, has been reached after a “difficult negotiation”, according to Moscow, finally fruitful in the exchange announced this Saturday.
Russia and Ukraine periodically carry out this type of exchange, which has continued regardless of the evolution of the war between the two parties.
The Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was taken over by the Russian army after weeks of siege and fighting against the Azov Battalion, a paramilitary organization fighting in support of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
