As part of the exchange, Moscow agreed to release the foreigners as well as 215 Ukrainians, including more than 100 Azov members. In return, Ukraine said it freed Viktor Medvedchuk and 55 Russian and pro-Russian fighters. The imbalance in numbers, as well as the release of Azov members long portrayed as “Nazis” by the Kremlin, has already sparked criticism in Russia from pro-war nationalists. However, the breadth and depth of the prisoner swap – brokered by Saudi Arabia and Turkey – drew praise from the governments of the freed foreigners, several of whom had been sentenced to death in territory held by pro-Russian separatists. Here’s a brief look at those who were released. Viktor Medvedchuk, 68, is a pro-Kremlin Ukrainian opposition politician and close friend of Putin. He was arrested in April by Ukraine’s internal security service, which said Medvedchuk had been in hiding for weeks and claimed he was to be smuggled out of Ukraine with Russian help. He was charged with treason last year and reportedly escaped house arrest in February, two days after the Russian invasion, according to Kyiv. Who is Viktor Medvedchuk, the pro-Russian tycoon arrested in Ukraine? Medvedchuk, a long-time Machiavellian figure in Ukrainian politics, appears to be the highest-ranking prisoner secured by the Russian side, although officials in Moscow have been surprisingly tight-lipped about his role in the swap, with the Kremlin and the Defense Ministry avoiding confirming that he was involved. The exchange has already faced criticism from Russian hardliners who say Russia gave more than it got in negotiations with Kyiv and criticize the Kremlin’s decision to release members of the Azov Regiment, which they see as a neo-Nazi threat. must be eliminated. On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that 55 Russian soldiers had returned home, but did not disclose details of the deal. Further confirmation came from the Moscow-backed separatist leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, who claimed credit for the prisoner exchange and argued that it was important to free Medvedchuk because of his previous role as a negotiator for many years. fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists. “I have seen with my own eyes how during the Minsk process and outside it, more than 1,000 of our children were freed with the help of Viktor Medvedchuk, who would not have survived otherwise,” Pushilin said in a video released by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Indicative of Medvedchuk’s plumbing role, he worked for Kyiv during previous prisoner exchange negotiations.
Alexander Drueke and Andy Tai Huynh Alexander J. Drueke, 40, and Andy Tai Huynh, 28, two US Army veterans from Alabama, were released Wednesday after being arrested in June near Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine. Drueke had told his family he was teaching Ukrainian troops how to use American-made weapons, his mother previously told the Washington Post. Joy Black, who identified herself as Huynh’s fiancee, said she had volunteered to fight alongside Ukrainian forces. Americans released due to major Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a statement, welcomed the news of “the exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia, which includes two American citizens who were captured while serving in the Ukrainian military.” Blinken said, “We look forward to reuniting these American citizens with their families.”
Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, John Harding, Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill Five British nationals were also released on Wednesday, the British government confirmed. They had been captured at various points in the war. British Prime Minister Liz Truss called it “extremely welcome news that five British nationals held by Russian-backed proxies in eastern Ukraine have been returned safely, ending months of uncertainty and suffering for them and their families.” Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, John Harding and Andrew Hill were fighting alongside Ukrainian forces when they were captured. Dylan Healy is an aid worker who was arrested in southeastern Ukraine and is reportedly accused of espionage. Ukrainian war volunteers are returning home, counting on a tough fight Ashlin and Pinner were accused of acting as foreign mercenaries and sentenced to death by a Russian-backed separatist court in the breakaway region of Donetsk. A Moroccan national, Brahim Saadoun, who was sentenced to death along with the British, was also released on Wednesday. Harding, Hill and Healy were reportedly awaiting sentencing on the same charge. In a video recorded by Ashlyn and Pinner from the plane on their way back to the UK, Pinner said they got out “by the skin of our teeth”. British national Aiden Aslin posted a video on a plane on September 21 announcing his release from a Russian prison. (Video: Aiden Aslin) Denis Prokopenko, 31, heads the Azov Regiment, a right-wing paramilitary unit whose members were instrumental in defending southeastern Ukraine’s Mariupol from a week-long Russian siege before surrendering in May. Prokopenko spent years fighting in the Donbass, the region of eastern Ukraine that includes Luhansk and Donetsk. Initially a grenade launcher, he then took command of a platoon and later a company. In July 2017, he was named the commander of Azov. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Prokopenko led the defense of Mariupol as Azov soldiers hid for weeks under Russian fire inside the Azovstal iron and steel plant. For his leadership on the front lines of the conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded Prokopenko the title of Hero of Ukraine. He was captured by separatist forces when they recaptured Azovstal and then held in a penal colony in Olenivka, Donetsk. In June, Russian media reported that the commanders of the Azov Regiment were transferred from Donetsk to Russia for “investigative actions”. Prokopenko was released on Wednesday and transferred to Turkey along with four other Azov commanders, Zelensky said. They will remain there until the end of the war “under Erdogan’s protection,” the Ukrainian president said in vague comments that suggested some form of house arrest. The Russian parliament has taken steps to officially designate Azov as a terrorist organization. Sergey Volynsky, 30, is the commander of the 36th Marine Brigade of Ukraine, the last unit of the Ukrainian armed forces in Mariupol during the Russian siege that ended with the capture of Azovstal. Volinsky served in Crimea when Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula in 2014. During and after that time, as part of the 36th Marine Brigade, he flew missions around Mariupol. Last Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol vow to fight ‘as long as we live’ In April, a unit of the 36th Brigade under his command merged with fighters of the Azov Battalion to seize the impenetrable network of underground tunnels that formed the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, which served as the last Ukrainian stronghold in the area, and was successfully diverted . Russian resources for weeks. Volynsky became the voice of the defenders of Azovstal, calling on world leaders to save the civilians and wounded in their ranks. Volinsky and his unit surrendered on May 20, the same day as Prokopenko and the Azov fighters. He was arrested by pro-Russian forces and detained in Donetsk. In Mariupoli, echoes of history, absolute destruction and a last stop When Volynsky was released on Wednesday as part of the prisoner exchange, he said: “The emotions are overwhelming. Thanks on his behalf [Armed Forces of Ukraine]the Marines who defended Azovstal’. David Stern, Dan Lamothe, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Karen DeYoung, Alex Horton, and Maite Fernandez Simon contributed to this report.
War in Ukraine: What you need to know
The last: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial mobilization” of troops in an address to the nation on September 21, describing the move as an effort to defend Russian sovereignty against a West that seeks to use Ukraine as a tool to “divide and destroy Russia. .” Follow our live updates here. The battle: A successful Ukrainian counteroffensive forced a large Russian retreat in the northeastern region of Kharkiv in recent days, as troops abandoned towns and villages they had seized since the first days of the war and abandoned large amounts of military equipment. Annexation Referendums: Staggered referendums, which would be illegal under international law, are to be held from September 23 to 27 in the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, according to Russian news agencies. Another organized referendum will be held by the Moscow-appointed government in Kherson from Friday. Photos: Washington Post photographers have been on the ground since the start of the war — here are some of their strongest works. How you can help: Here are ways those in the US can help support the Ukrainian people as well as the donations people have made around the world. Read his full coverage Russia-Ukraine crisis. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for updates and exclusive video.
