A total of 215 defenders of Mariupol, who had been holding their defenses at the Azovstal steelworks, were released from Russian captivity as a result of a massive swap effort.

“President Volodymyr Zelensky set a clear task: to bring our heroes back home. The result: our heroes are free.

“There was a large exchange of prisoners. It passed through several stages and in different locations. We brought back 215 people from Russian captivity. These are soldiers, border guards, policemen, sailors, national guardsmen, territorial forces’ troops, customs officers, and civilians. Among them are officers, commanders, Heroes of Ukraine, defenders of Azovstal, and pregnant military servicewomen.

It is those whom the Russians wanted to kill, whom they called “Nazis”, our strong people who were not broken by battles and captivity, including top commanders of the units which defended Mariupol. This is the result of personal agreements between President Zelensky and President Erdogan”, - the Head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak wrote on Facebook.