Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, returning from a visit to Turkey, brought with him five officers from the former Ukrainian garrison of Mariupol. The soldiers, taken prisoner after the capture of the city by Russia after a long siege of three months, were forced to live in Turkey according to the clauses established during an exchange of prisoners with Russia.
Considered heroes in Ukraine, the officers led the fierce defense of the port city, forcing the Russian army into long and fierce battles. Thousands of civilians were killed in this battle and the city of Mariupol was largely destroyed.
Surrounded on all sides, the last Ukrainian troops had taken refuge at the end of the siege in the tunnels and bunkers of a large steelworks, Azovstal. In the shelter of this regularly bombarded factory, the soldiers had finally received the order from kyiv to surrender. Moscow released some of them in September last year in a prisoner swap brokered by Ankara. According to the agreement established by the two parties, the officers in question were to remain in Turkey until the end of the war.
“We are returning from Turkey and bringing our heroes home,” Zelensky said on Telegram after meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday. “Ukrainian soldiers Denys Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Serhiy Volynsky, Oleh Khomenko, Denys Shleha. They will finally be with their loved ones,” he said. The Ukrainian president also posted a one-minute video of him greeting Mariupol veterans before boarding a plane. Two of the five officers mentioned are the commanders of the Azov regiment which took part in the fierce defense of the city.
The Ukrainian president did not specify under what conditions this return had been decided. Asked by the Reuters news agency, the Turkish Communications Directorate did not comment on the reasons for this return either. The Kremlin, for its part, said it was furious. “The return of Azov commanders from Turkey to Ukraine is nothing but a direct violation of the terms of existing agreements,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by news agencies. Russian press.
According to him, both Ukraine and Turkey violated the terms of this agreement which provided for these men to remain in Turkey until the end of the conflict. Dmitri Peskov linked this return to the “failure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive” conducted since the beginning of June and to Ankara’s desire to show its “solidarity” before the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11 and 12. Preparations for the NATO summit are underway and, of course, there has been a lot of pressure on Turkey,” he said.
Very popular, the officers have received many marks of support on social networks. “Finally! The best news ever. Congratulations to our brothers!” declared Major Maksym Zhorin, who is currently fighting in eastern Ukraine, on Telegram.
