Ukraine announces largest prisoner exchange since the beginning of the war - oligarch loyal to Putin also free again

Created: 09/22/2022Updated: 09/22/2022, 11:40 am

By: Stephanie Munk

Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine resulted in the largest exchange of prisoners since the start of the Ukraine war.

Putin friend Medvedchuk was released, as were Azov fighters.

News ticker.

• Largest

  prisoner exchange

  since the beginning of the

  Ukraine war

  : 215 Ukrainians and 55 Russians were released.

• Putin ally

  free

  again

  : The oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk was exchanged for Ukrainian Azov fighters.

• Erdogan

  is said to have

  mediated

  : The Turkish President sees the prisoner exchange as an "important step".

• This

  news ticker on the Russia-Ukraine negotiations

  is constantly updated.

Kyiv/Moscow – Ukraine on Wednesday announced the largest exchange of prisoners with Russia since the start of the Ukraine war.

215 Ukrainians would be released from Russian captivity, said the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, on television.

"Our heroes are free," he triumphed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address that in return Ukraine released 55 Russian prisoners - including Viktor Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian MP and friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The oligarch and Putin ally Viktor Medvedchuk was released from Ukrainian captivity.

© Uncredited/Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/AP/dpa

Russia-Ukraine talks: Azov commanders freed in prisoner swap

According to Zelensky, among the released Ukrainians were the commanders of the defense of Mariupol, who had been entrenched in the Azovstal steelworks until mid-May and resisted the Russian invaders.

They came to Turkey in a long-prepared campaign.

The released fighters would stay there "in complete safety" until the end of the war, Zelenskyy said.

Five of the Ukrainian commanders captured in Mariupol are in Turkey under the special protection of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Presidential Office Chief Yermak said.

Relieved faces: the released Ukrainian prisoners shortly after the prisoner swap with Russia.

© Handout/Security Service of Ukraine/AFP

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The Moscow-controlled separatists in eastern Ukraine also released ten foreigners.

They were flown to Riyadh through mediation by Saudi Arabia.

These were two Americans, one Swede, one Croat, one Moroccan and five Brits.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss spoke on Twitter of "very welcome news".

Months of uncertainty and suffering had come to an end for the prisoners of war and their families.

Among those released was 28-year-old Aiden Aslin.

The Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" sentenced him to death in a show trial.

British Secretary of State for Health Robert Jenrick announced his release via Twitter.

The Briton Aiden Aslin (left) was taken prisoner by the Russians because he fought on the side of Ukraine in the Ukraine war and was sentenced to death.

Now he was free again.

© Konstantin Mihalchevskiy/Imago

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that the two released Americans had previously joined Ukrainian troops and been captured in combat.

US citizens should not travel to Ukraine at this time, Blinken warned, but rather support the attacked country in other ways.

Prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia: Erdogan boasts of being a mediator

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the exchange was mediated by Turkey, according to the state news agency Anadolu.

Erdogan called the agreement an "important step" towards ending the Ukraine war.