Kyiv and Moscow have performed a significant prisoner swap, with 215 Ukrainian and international fighters launched in change for greater than 50 Russian prisoners, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced in a single day on Wednesday.

Zelenskyy lauded “215 items of excellent information,” and mentioned, “We’re bringing our folks house.”

The prisoner swap included practically 200 troopers who defended Mariupol and its Azovstal steelworks, in change for 55 Russian troopers and pro-Kremlin Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, a detailed Putin ally.

Medvedchuk was arrested in April accused of excessive treason, in line with Zelenskyy. An earlier try to change Medvedchuk for Ukrainian troopers was dismissed by the Kremlin.

5 army commanders, together with leaders of the Azovstal protection, had been taken to Turkey as negotiated with its president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Zelenskyy mentioned that the “superheroes” would stay in Turkey “in complete safety and in snug circumstances” till the top of the warfare. He additionally thanked Erdoğan for his position within the change.

The ten worldwide prisoners included 5 British residents, two U.S. international fighters and folks from Croatia, Sweden and Morocco. The deal was performed with the assistance of Saudi Arabia, and the liberated fighters had been transferred to Riyadh.

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who had been captured whereas combating with Ukrainian forces and sentenced to demise in a present trial, had been among the many Brits launched.

The prisoner change is the largest swap between the 2 sides because the begin of Russia’s invasion in February.