Russia confirms the return to the country of 55 soldiers released in the prisoner exchange
Kiev and Moscow have agreed to exchange 215 Ukrainian prisoners for pro-Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who has been in prison since April 12. In the operation in which 108 soldiers of the Azov Battalion were also released. The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said in a statement on Thursday.
“This is the most powerful result in terms of the release of prisoners since the start of the large-scale invasion,” Yermak said in comments from Ukrinform. Of 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 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Almost all soldiers are already on Ukrainian soil, except for five of the commanders of the Azov battalion, who are in Turkey “under his personal guarantees of protection” according to the agreements previously made with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. according to the aforementioned newspaper.
However, the exchange has been possible after Ukraine extradited Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian politician who was detained and charged with “high treason” in connection with his alleged role as a collaborator with Russian forces in the context of the war with Ukraine. “Today we exchanged 200 citizens of Ukraine directly for Mr. Medvedchuk. I would like to point out that Medvedchuk is not only Putin’s godfather, but a well-documented state traitor. His guilt is fully recorded,” Yermak said in the letter.
He pointed out that during Medvedchuk’s arrest, “several intelligence networks” were neutralized and “traitors of the state” were arrested, yielding “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 soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces and of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics who were in mortal danger have returned from the territory of Ukraine.” that is controlled by the Kiev regime. “At the moment, all military personnel have been transferred to Russian territory by military transport aircraft and are in medical institutions of the Russian Ministry of Defense,” Konashenkov described in detail, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax .
Likewise, he stressed that all those released as part of the prisoner exchange with Ukraine have had the opportunity to contact their families and receive medical and psychological care.
The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, welcomed the agreement, which he described as “a victory for society”. “We bring our people home. The exchange has just been completed. 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 from the country’s presidency.
Ukraine’s president has said “the most important thing” is that 215 families “will be able to see their loved ones safely again”, assuring that the exchange is part of the country’s “essence”. Zelensky, however, has explained that the operation was “quite long” in preparation, pointing out that “it is no regrets to give Medvedchuk for real warriors.”
“(Medvedchuk) has gone through all investigative steps prescribed by law. Ukraine has received from him everything necessary to establish the truth in the context of criminal proceedings,” said the President of Ukraine. In this regard, he announced that Ukraine It has been agreed with Turkey that the five commanders who have not yet arrived on Ukrainian territory will 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.
Source: La Verdad
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