2023-07-09 10:51:52
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (fourth from right), Chief of Staff to President Andriy Ermak, and Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klimenko shoulder to shoulder with five former garrison commanders in Mariupol inside an aircraft returning home from Istanbul, Turkey, on the 8th (local time). Standing. AP Yonhap News The Ukrainian army commanders who were captured following fighting desperately for 80 days at the Mariupol Azoustal Steel Mill surrounded by overwhelming Russian forces returned to their homeland alive on the 8th (local time).
According to Archyde.com and others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned home on the same day with five former commanders of the Mariupol garrison who were staying in Turkiye.
Mariupol, a strategically important city in southern Ukraine, fell to Russia in May last year following a siege that lasted nearly three months. In the process, the Russian army captured regarding 1,000 soldiers at the Azoustal Steel Mill, which was the last stronghold of the Ukrainian army. Thanks to their endurance, the Ukrainian forces were able to buy time to build a defensive line to push back the Russian forces invading the country. This is why they are receiving the title of heroes in Ukraine.
In September of last year, Russia released some Ukrainian soldiers captured at the Azoustal steel mill in exchange for prisoners through mediations by Turkey and Saudi Arabia. However, the commanders attached a condition that they had to stay in Turkiye without returning home until the end of the war. However, one day before the 9th, the 500th day following the start of the war, when it became known that the Ukrainians, who symbolize the spirit of resistance, returned to Ukraine from Turkey, the Russian side strongly protested, saying it was a violation of the agreement. The Russian side claims that the new recruits were transferred to Ukraine as a result of NATO members pressuring Turkiyeh ahead of the NATO summit next week.
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