Smiles, waves, and peace signs flashed in front of the cameras: This was the touching moment Ukraine’s valiant Mariupol defenders were set free last night in a startling prisoner swap with Russia.
They manage to survive against all obstacles. They were last seen being bussed off to prisons compared to concentration camps after enduring almost three months under a Russian siege while being vastly outnumbered and outgunned.
Many people had doubts about their ability to survive. Azov is seen by Russian hardliners as the worst of the worst, along with Nazis and war criminals, and they have been asking for their death.
However, they were deemed safe yesterday night. Among them were the Marine commander Serhiy Volynsky, the Azov commander Denis Prokopenko, and his deputy, Svyatoslav Palamar.
Additionally shown were Mykhailo Dianov, whose broken arm served as a symbol of the horrors inside the plant after he was last seen with it, and Kateryna “Birdie” Polishchuk, a nurse whose singing inside the Azovstal steelworks inspired a nation.
One of President Zelensky’s key advisors, Andriy Yermak, said that some of the warriors were severely pregnant. The First Lady, Olena Zelenska, proclaimed it to be “the day all of Ukraine was waiting for.”
Viktor Medvedchuk, Putin’s right-hand man in Ukraine, is one of the Russians who have been freed; according to President Zelensky, he was traded for 200 Ukrainians.
Zelensky said that the payment was reasonable and that Medvedchuk had already given spies a wealth of information.
However, amid anger in Russia at the exchange of the Azov defenders, rumours emerged that Medvedchuk was not the primary target of the trade.
Some people, like security expert Michael Weiss, hypothesised that it might actually be Russians captured during the lightning-fast counterattack out of Kharkiv.
There were rumours that during that offensive, Ukraine managed to capture a Russian general, making him the highest-ranking officer taken prisoner since the Second World War.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have neither verified or refuted such rumours, and they don’t seem to be in a hurry to do so right now.
The exchanges were hailed as “no minor success” by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who also noted that “far more has to be done to ameliorate the suffering caused by the conflict in Ukraine,” according to his spokesperson.
According to spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, the U.N. head reiterates the importance of adhering to international law regarding the treatment of inmates and will continue to encourage more prisoner swaps.
Zelenskyy said that many of those let free belonged to the heroes of Ukraine’s Azov army.
Midway through May, the almost three-month-long siege of the port city of Mariupol was ended when more than 2,000 defenders, many of them members of the Azov unit, marched out of the twisted ruins of the Azovstal steel mill into Russian custody.
According to a statement on Zelenskyy’s website, five of the freed Azov commanders are now residing in Turkey.
While this was going on, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly helped in the discussions as he flew Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner to Saudi Arabia.
There are presently five Britons in Riyadh, together with two Americans, one Swede, one Croat, and one Moroccan.
The couple can be seen grinning at the camera in an Instagram video as they take their seats on a flight out of Russia.
We simply want everyone to know that we are now out of harm’s way and headed back to our homes and families, Aslin adds.
The man next to him, Pinner, adds, “By the skin of our teeth.”
The prisoner swap also led to the release of two US veterans: Andy Huynh, 27, and Alexander Drueke, 39.
Five British citizens imprisoned by Russian-backed proxies in eastern Ukraine have been safely repatriated, ending months of uncertainty and misery for them and their families, the UK Prime Minister Liz Truss said.
The fact that Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilisation of reservists on the same day the prisoner swap took place raises questions about why the conflict in Ukraine suddenly escalated so dramatically.
Following his announcement of intentions to annexe seized portions of Ukraine’s territory to the Russian mainland, Putin also threatened the West with nuclear weapons over the country.