Russia has taken in 55 prisoners, including Viktor Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian lawmaker and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is charged with high treason, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address. Medvedchuk was arrested in April after escaping house arrest on treason charges days after the Russian invasion. At the time, Zelensky offered to exchange him for Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, but the Kremlin rejected the offer. In May, Azov fighters surrendered after a long siege of the steel plant and were transferred to Russian-held territory. The exchange is the largest exchange between the warring sides since Russia’s invasion began in February. Surrendered soldiers of the Ukrainian Azov National Battalion were taken to Yelenovka in Mariupol in May. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images “We managed to free 215 people,” the chief of staff of the Ukrainian presidency, Andriy Yermak, announced on television. Zelensky said five military commanders, including Azovstal defense leaders, were taken to Turkey as part of an operation agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The released prisoners will remain in Turkey “in absolute safety and in comfortable conditions” until the end of the war, he added. There was no comment from Moscow. Ten prisoners of war, including five Britons and two Americans, who were transferred from Russia to Saudi Arabia earlier on Wednesday, were part of the swap deal, Zelensky said. On Tuesday, Erdogan said on US television that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to exchange 200 prisoners in one of the largest exchanges of the seven-month war. Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine, has withstood weeks of relentless Russian shelling, with resistance concentrated in a dense network of underground tunnels at the Azovstal steel plant. Ukrainian forces’ long-standing refusal to surrender despite shortages of ammunition and supplies won them praise across the country for their heroism in defying overwhelming odds against Russia’s superior numbers and firepower. With Agence France-Presse
