Global Courant
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, thanked his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for the support provided, for the return to the homeland of five former Ukrainian commanders.
In a special ceremony in the city of Lviv, on Saturday, President Zelensky described the former commanders who fought in Mariupol as heroes. He expressed gratitude to the Turkish side and to President Erdogan for his help in releasing the former commanders.
The former commanders led the fight last year to defend the port of Mariupol, the largest city the Russians have taken during their aggression.
Ukrainian defense forces held out in tunnels and bunkers beneath the Azovastal plant until they received orders from Kiev in May to surrender.
More than two thousand of them were taken prisoners of war by Russia.
Moscow released some of the Ukrainian forces in September, following a prisoner-of-war swap deal brokered by Ankara, under which the former commanders were to remain in Turkey until the end of the war.
So far there is no clear explanation from Ankara or Kiev as to why they were allowed to return to Ukraine.
A day earlier, after the news broke, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Turkey had violated the terms of the agreement and had not informed Moscow.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participated in the mass held to mark the 500th day of Ukrainian battles against Russian troops.
According to an announcement by the Ukrainian Presidency, representatives of religious communities prayed for peace, victory and liberation of the country. /VOA
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