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Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy are among the British detainees released
British Prime Minister Liz Truss confirmed the release of five British nationals, among 10 people held by Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine.
It said in a statement that this would end “months of uncertainty and suffering for them and their families.”
It thanked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Saudi Arabia for their assistance in securing the release of the detainees.
“Russia must put an end to the cruel exploitation of prisoners of war and civilian detainees for political purposes,” she added.
The Saudi government said Russia released the 10 following mediation by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The group is believed to include US, British, Swedish, Croat and Moroccan nationals who were released as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Russia and Ukraine.
A statement from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “The concerned Saudi authorities have received them and transferred them from Russia to the Kingdom and are working to facilitate procedures for their safe return to their countries.”
The Saudi statement did not say whether Ukraine had released Russian prisoners in return.
The Saudi Press Agency published photos and a video clip of the released persons arriving in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
For its part, the British Foreign Office said it might not comment on the Saudi statement.
Among the released was the Moroccan citizen Ibrahim Saadoun, who was tried along with two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Sean Benner, and a court not recognized internationally in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic issued a death sentence for them.
The 21-year-old’s family says he was studying in Ukraine before joining the fight for Mariupol.
The human rights organization Amnesty International issued a brief statement following the release of the 10 detainees.
Alan Hogarth, an official at the organisation, described the exchange as a “great relief” and said their imprisonment was “a sham judicial process apparently designed to put diplomatic pressure on the UK”.
photo released, Archyde.com
Among those released was a Moroccan citizen who was tried, along with two Britons, in a pro forma court in eastern Ukraine, which sentenced them to death.
He told the Press Association that separatist authorities in Donetsk – where the 10 were convicted – and their counterparts in Russia are believed to still be “illegally holding thousands of other detainees amid horrific reports of torture”.
“We demand that they immediately release all detainees,” he added.
Numerous exchanges have taken place since the beginning of the conflict, the largest of which so far was the deal that took place last July and included the release of 144 people.
While prisoner exchanges are the norm in wars, states may be reluctant to announce any concessions they make in order to conclude such deals.