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Sept 21 (Reuters) – Russia has released 215 Ukrainians it took prisoner after a long battle for the port city of Mariupol earlier this year, including top military leaders, a senior official in Kyiv said on Wednesday.
The freed prisoners include the commander and deputy commander of the Azov battalion that did much of the fighting, said Andriy Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office.
The move is unexpected as Russian-backed separatists said last month there would be a trial of Azov personnel, who Moscow describes as Nazis. Ukraine denies the accusation.
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In a statement, Yermak said that among the released prisoners were Azov commander Lt. Col. Denys Prokopenko and his deputy, Svyatoslav Palamar.
Also at large is Serhiy Volynsky, the commander of the 36th Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The commanders of the defender of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol Denys Prokopenko, Serhii Volynskyi, Sviatoslav Palamar, Denys Shleha, Oleh Homenko together with the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denys Monastyrskyi and the head of Military Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov speak with Ukrainian President Zelen Volodya via video. exchange of war (POW), amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in a location given as Turkey, in this photo released on Sept. 22, 2022. Press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine / Brochure via REUTERS
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The three men had helped lead a stubborn resistance for weeks from bunkers and tunnels beneath Mariupol’s giant steelworks before they and hundreds of Azov fighters surrendered to Russian-backed forces in May.
Yermak said that in return, Kyiv had released 55 Russian prisoners as well as Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of a banned pro-Russian party facing treason charges.
Public broadcaster Suspline said the exchange had taken place near the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.
Earlier in the day, Saudi Arabia said Russia had released 10 foreign prisoners of war captured in Ukraine following mediation by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Read more
Last month, the head of the Russian-backed separatist administration in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region said a trial of captured Azov personnel would take place by the end of the summer. Read more
The Azov unit, formed in 2014 as a militia to fight Russian-backed separatists, denies being fascist and Ukraine says it has reformed from its radical nationalist origins.
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Reporting by David Ljunggren Editing by Alistair Bell and Rosalba O’Brien
Our standards: the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
David Ljunggren
Thomson Reuters
It covers Canadian political, economic and general news, as well as breaking news in North America, previously based in London and Moscow and winner of the Reuters Treasury of the Year award.