2023-07-08 18:00:00
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, several high-ranking officers involved in the defense of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol were brought home from Turkey. “Home,” Zelensky captioned a photo on his Twitter account on Saturday that showed him on the plane with three commanders of the Azov regiment, the chief of the 36th Marine Brigade Serhiy Volynsk and the commander of the 12th Brigade of the National Guard Denys Schlehu, shows. The men had fallen into Russian captivity after the conquest of Azovstal, but were then extradited to Turkey.
They have now been returned to their homeland “after negotiations with the Turkish side,” according to the Ukrainian presidential administration. Selenski met her at Istanbul airport and congratulated her on her return.
Shortly after Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine began, the port city of Mariupol became the epicenter of bitter fighting. The battles around the city surrounded by Russian troops lasted several months. In the end, several thousand Ukrainian soldiers, including fighters from the nationalist Azov regiment, were holed up in the Azovstal steelworks. The last defenders only surrendered in May.
Russia actually wanted to put the Ukrainian fighters on trial. The nationalist Azov regiment in particular has served Moscow time and again as justification for the more than 16-month war of aggression and for the claim that it is allegedly “liberating” Ukraine from “fascists”. Nevertheless, she later deported several commanders of the regiment to Turkey. At the time, it was said that they were only released on condition that they stay there until the end of the war. (DPO)
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