Russia Releases Hundreds Of Prisoners Of War: Including US Citizens And UK Citizens, There's A Role For Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince To Turkey

JAKARTA - Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war, including ten foreign nationals and commanders of the Kyiv forces defending Mariupol, with Saudi Arabia and Turkey active.

Being the largest exchange, it includes nearly 300 soldiers. The foreigners released included two Britons and a Moroccan who had been sentenced to death in June after being captured fighting for Ukraine.

Also released were three other Britons, two Americans, a Croatian and a Swedish national.

The timing and magnitude of the exchange is surprising, given that Russian President Vladimir Putin previously announced the first partial troop mobilization since World War II.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the exchange had been in the works for a long time, involving intense bargaining. Under the terms of the deal, 215 Ukrainians, most of them arrested after the fall of Mariupol, were released.

In exchange, Ukraine sent back 55 pro-Moscow Russians and Ukrainians, including Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of the pro-Russian party facing treason charges.

"This is definitely a victory for our country, for our entire society. And most importantly 215 families can see their loved ones safe and at home," President Zelensky said, citing Reuters on September 22.

"We remember all our people and try to save every Ukrainian. This is what Ukraine means, our essence, this is what distinguishes us from the enemy."

President Zelensky thanked Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for his help, saying five senior Ukrainian commanders would remain in Turkey until the end of the war.

They included Lieutenant Colonel Denys Prokopenko, the commander of the Azov battalion who did much of the fighting, and his deputy, Svyatoslav Palamar. Also released was Serhiy Volynsky, commander of the 36th Marine Brigade.

The trio had helped lead the resistance for weeks from bunkers and tunnels under the giant Mariupol steel mill, before they and hundreds of Azov fighters surrendered in May to Russian-backed forces.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the deal.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia brokered an arrangement under which 10 foreigners were flown to Saudi Arabia. The mediation involved Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has maintained close ties to President Putin.

"Relevant Saudi authorities received and transferred them from Russia to the kingdom and facilitated the procedures for their safe return to their respective countries," Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The prisoners released included US citizens Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh, both from Alabama, who were captured in June while fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Also freed were Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, all of whom were sentenced to death by courts in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.