Ukraine celebrated the return of 45 Azov battalion members seized during the assault on Mariupol on Saturday, while Russia said Kyiv freed three of its pilots. Neither side provided details of the apparent prisoner swap.
Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office director, stated 42 soldiers and three women from the Azov brigade were liberated.
Many Ukrainians revere Azov battalion members, who fought in the unsuccessful Mariupol defense, while Russia despises them.
“Great news on this beautiful day. Forty-five are returning home. Yermak posted on Telegram, “Thirty-five privates and sergeants, ten officers.”
The Russian Defence Ministry said three pilots were back and receiving physical and psychological care.
“As a result of a difficult negotiation process, three Russian pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces, who had been in mortal danger while in captivity, were returned from Kyiv-controlled territory,” the statement added, omitting the 45 Ukrainian captives. Russian official media reported no new prisoner releases.
Ukraine’s military intelligence service, which arranges prisoner exchanges with Russia, didn’t reply to a request for specifics.
Since Russia’s full-scale incursion last February, Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to many prisoner swaps.
Russia claims its “special military operation” responded to Kyiv’s relations with the West, while Ukraine and its Western allies call it a territorial grab.
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