RT.com
23 Sep 2022, 03:47 GMT+10
Senior officers of the Azov Battalion were released as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia
Five commanders of the infamous neo-Nazi Azov regiment will stay in Turkey until the conflict between Moscow and Kiev ends, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky confirmed on Facebook on Thursday. All five were recently handed over by Russia as part of a major prisoner exchange with Ukraine.
"We agreed that the five released Azov commanders would stay in comfortable conditions in Turkey until the end of the war and would be able to see their families," Zelensky said in a post. Earlier, he also said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had offered them protection.
On Thursday, Zelensky thanked the Turkish leader for his "leading role" in mediating the prisoner exchange.
All five Azov commanders were captured by the Russian forces and Donbass militias in the spring following the lengthy siege of the Azovstal steel plant in the Azov Sea port city of Mariupol.
Russia handed the five commanders over together with more than 200 Ukrainian soldiers, including more than 100 members of Ukraine's Azov Battalion, whose ranks include fighters with openly nationalist and neo-Nazi views.
The exchange also involved ten foreign nationals that were captured while fighting alongside the Ukrainian Army. British Prime Minister Liz Truss confirmed on Wednesday night that five captured UK nationals who had been fighting alongside Ukrainian troops had been released. Two of them had been convicted of war crimes by a court in the Donetsk People's Republic and sentenced to death. The foreigners have already arrived in Saudi Arabia, which also acted as a mediator during the exchange.
Kiev released 55 Russian and Donbass soldiers in exchange, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The prisoner exchange was confirmed a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a partial mobilization of reservists.
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Greek Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Greek Herald.
More InformationCHICAGO, Illinois: For the first time in history, U.S. officials are considering a coordinated plan to vaccinate poultry against bird...
Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 28 (ANI): Union Minister for Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy reaffirmed the Government's full support...
From the bombers of the Empire to helicopters for the Pentagon Igor Sikorskys machines were always Russian at heart In a makeshift...
LHASA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- International business leaders gathered at a forum in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region this week,...
New Delhi [India], June 28 (ANI): The Centre has granted Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) X category security cover to Aircraft...
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 28 (ANI): Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) made a net investment of Rs 13,107.54 crore into Indian...
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: NATO is pressing ahead with a sweeping new defense spending target, calling on all 32 member nations to commit...
La Cavalerie [France], June 28 (ANI): The Indo-French Joint Military Exercise SHAKTI-VIII continues to strengthen operational interoperability...
New Delhi [India], June 28 (ANI): Saquib Nachan, an accused with links to the terror group Islamic State (ISIS), died in Delhi's Safdarjung...
Tel Aviv [Israel], June 28 (ANI): A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen was likely intercepted...
(250628) -- CAIRO, June 28, 2025 (Xinhua) -- Staff members work at the workshop of Haier Egypt Electric Appliances Co. Limited at Haier...
Stopping the insults is a precondition for resuming nuclear talks, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Iran's Foreign Minister...