Zelensky repatriated to Ukraine five soldiers, who resisted in Mariupol and who were in Turkey

First modification: 07/09/2023 – 16:36

The last international tour of the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky ended in Istanbul. There he met the five soldiers, who had resisted intense attacks at the Azovstal steel works for more than three months and who had been released in a prisoner exchange announced on September 21, 2022. This time, Zelensky returned to Ukraine with them. and was a mediator to achieve the meeting with their families.

“We are coming home from Turkey and bringing our heroes home,” said Zelensky, who spoke in Istanbul with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, July 7, in his speech.

On his Twitter account, The Ukrainian president published photos and a 20-minute video showing the ceremony with which the officers were received, the reunion with their families, and a day of awarding the five and other soldiers who have been on the front lines. battle.

“I am proud of all of them, grateful to each of them, we remember our heroes. We can’t say all the names now. We will be able to talk about some heroes only after our victory: their bravery is very special. But Ukraine will always be grateful to all of them. And please honor our heroes! And tell your children, your friends, the whole world about them. Glory to all who fight for Ukraine!” Zelensky tweeted.

a one-sided decision

The repatriation of the uniformed officers was achieved by a unilateral decision made by Zelenski while in Turkey.

The initial agreement called for the five soldiers to remain in Ankara until the end of the conflict, a rule that was created under a prisoner exchange engineered with the Kremlin last year.

In that deal, 215 soldiers were to be released from Russian rule, but were to remain in Turkey under Erdogan’s observation until the end of the conflict, in exchange for 55 Russians and pro-Russian Ukrainians linked to the Kremlin.

Therefore, Russia immediately denounced the release. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ankara had promised the prisoner swap would go ahead on the assumption that the Turkish government would keep the men in Turkey.

Peskov said that Moscow was not informed of the release and assured that the repatriation was the result of pressure from Turkey’s Western allies in NATO, ahead of next week’s military summit, an event in which Ukraine hopes to receive a gesture positive about their future membership in the Alliance.

“The return of the leaders of the Azovstal regiment from Turkey to Ukraine it is not more than a direct violation of the terms of existing agreements. No one informed us about this. According to the agreements, these ringleaders were to remain on the territory of Turkey until the end of the conflict,” Peskov told Russia’s RIA news agency.

In his speech, President Zelesnki did not give any explanation as to why the commanders were allowed to return home at this time and Turkey’s Communications directorate did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Thanks to Türkiye

After his speech and a day of celebration with families in the western city of Lviv, Zelensky publicly thanked Erdogan for helping free the soldiers and vowed to bring all remaining prisoners to Ukraine.

“Before the war, many people in the world still did not understand what we are, what you are, but now when they see our heroes, everyone understands,” he said.

Denys Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Serhiy Volynsky, Oleh Khomenko and Denys Shleha were part of the 2,500 officers who faced the Russian offensive in Mariupol, a city that finally ended up falling under the occupation of Moscow.

Denys Prokopenko, one of the five commanders, said at the meeting that his men “will have our word that we will return to the front”, and about the counteroffensive launched on June 8, 2023, he assured that “the most important thing is that Ukraine has taken the strategic initiative and it’s moving forward.

The resistance in Mariupol

Several thousand civilians were killed in Mariupol during a three-month siege by Russian forces that left only ruins of the city, in what became Russia’s first major victory in one of Ukraine’s major cities.

From February 24 to May 20, 2022, Russian forces razed Mariupol, in an offensive that international organizations have denounced for the “death of thousands of civilians.”

The Ukrainian defenders held out in tunnels and bunkers under the Azovstal plant, until kyiv finally ordered surrender on May 20, 2022.

Part of the Azov regiment of the Ukrainian army, formed on the basis of the ultranationalist battalion of the same name, was captured by Russian forces after the fall of Mariupol, three months after the start of the war. Azov fighters are hated in Russia for their links to Ukrainian ultranationalist circles.

With Reuters and AP