War in Ukraine: Russia furious after the return of soldiers from the Azov regiment from Turkey

2023-07-09 00:34:04

The Kremlin on Saturday slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s repatriation of several Ukrainian commanders who were to remain in Turkey until the end of the conflict under an agreement between Moscow and Kiev. “Ukrainian soldiers Denys Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Serhii Volynskyi, Oleg Khomenko, Denys Shlega will finally be with their families. Glory to Ukraine! “, welcomed this Saturday the Ukrainian president on his Twitter account.

The Ukrainian presidency has confirmed that it has obtained the return of these members of the Azov regiment, hated in Russia, after “negotiations with the Turkish side”. They were met at Istanbul airport by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was on a visit to Turkey.

We are returning home from Turkey and bringing our heroes home.
Ukrainian soldiers Denys Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Serhii Volynskyi, Oleg Khomenko, Denys Shlega will finally be with their families.
Glory to Ukraine!

——

We are returning home from Türkiye and bringing our heroes home.… pic.twitter.com/SLX3RIWPiy

— Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) July 8, 2023

Russia links this return to the “failure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive”

“The return of Azov commanders from Turkey to Ukraine is nothing but a direct violation of the terms of existing agreements,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by news agencies. Russian press. According to him, both Ukraine and Turkey violated the terms of this agreement which provided for these men to remain in Turkey until the end of the conflict.

Dmitri Peskov linked this return to the “failure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive” conducted since the beginning of June and to Ankara’s desire to show its “solidarity” before the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11 and 12. “Preparations for the NATO summit are underway and, of course, there has been a lot of pressure on Turkey,” he said.

Part of the regiment captured in 2022

Part of the Ukrainian army’s Azov regiment, formed on the basis of the ultranationalist battalion of the same name, was captured by Russian forces after the fall of Mariupol in May 2022.

Celebrated as heroes in Ukraine for their tenacious resistance within the Azovstal factory during the siege of Mariupol, the Azov fighters are reviled in Russia for their links with Ukrainian ultranationalist circles.

Ukraine announced at the end of September the exchange with Russia of 215 soldiers, including defense chiefs from the Azovstal steelworks. Five military commanders, “superheroes”, according to Zelensky, had been transferred to Turkey. They were to remain there “in absolute safety and in comfortable conditions until the end of the war”, according to an agreement with Mr. Erdogan.