Istanbul, Jul. 9, (dpa/GNA) - Several high-ranking Ukrainian military officers involved in the defence of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol returned to Ukraine from Turkey on Saturday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Home,” Zelensky wrote in the caption for a photo posted to his Telegram channel on Saturday.
The picture showed him aboard a plane with three commanders of the Azov regiment as well as the leader of the 36th Marine Brigade, Serhiy Volynsk, and the commander of the 12th Brigade of the National Guard, Denys Schlehu.
The men were taken prisoner by the Russians after Azovstal was captured by Russian troops, but were then deported to Turkey.
They returned to their homeland “after negotiations with the Turkish side,” according to the Ukrainian presidential administration.
Zelensky, who was in Istanbul on an official visit, met them at the airport and congratulated them on their return.
The port city of Mariupol became the epicentre of bitter fighting shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine early last year. The battles around the city, which was encircled by Russian troops, lasted several months.
Several thousand Ukrainian soldiers, including fighters from the far-right nationalist Azov regiment, held out in the Azovstal steelworks. The last defenders finally surrendered in May.
Russia has repeatedly cited the far-right Azov regiment when it has claimed that it seeks to “liberate” Ukraine from “fascists.” Russia initially planned to place captured Azov troops on trial but instead deported several commanders to Turkey, reportedly under the condition that they remain there until the end of the war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reacted with sharp criticism on Saturday. Peskov called the return of the Ukrainian soldiers as a “direct violation of existing agreements” by both Turkey and Ukraine.
The release of the Azov commanders from Russian captivity was conditional on their remaining in Turkey until the end of the war, he said.
Peskov speculated that NATO had exerted great pressure on Ankara so that Zelensky could be successful before next week’s NATO summit despite what he claimed were the “defeats in the counteroffensive.”
Earlier on Saturday, Zelensky met with Bartholomew I, the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians, during his visit to Istanbul.
The archbishop of Constantinople, Istanbul’s former name, is known for his open criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In 2019, Ukraine formally ended more than 330 years of Russian religious control over the country. The announcement was made in Istanbul, with the leader of the church in Ukraine and Bartholomew signing the independence letter.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s announcement of ecclesiastical independence, which followed years of bitter relations between Moscow and Kiev, angered Russia at the time.
“I thank Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for the spiritual support of Ukraine and Ukrainians, for prayers for peace for our entire land, for all our people,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
The Ukrainian leader said he joined “a memorial prayer for the victims of the war in Ukraine,” sharing footage from Istanbul’s St George cathedral.
Bartholomew said he prays for the restoration of peace in Ukraine and urged “the swift repatriation of Ukrainian children who had been taken to Russia,” Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported.
Zelensky met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday. The two leaders confirmed that negotiations are under way with Russia over a potential three-month extension of a critical Black Sea grain deal. The deal, brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, is set to expire on July 15.
The deal, first struck last year, has allowed ships to carry Ukrainian food exports from Black Sea ports despite the ongoing war with Russia and thus helped prevent global food shortages. Many of the exports pass through Turkish waters.
Erdoğan also expressed his support for Zelensky’s aspirations for his country to become a member of the NATO military alliance.
Turkey, which has asserted itself as a mediator in Russia’s war on Ukraine, maintains well-established trade, defence and diplomatic ties with both countries.
GNA