Moscow hits out as Turkey allows return of ‘hero’ Mariupol commanders – as it happened

Return of Ukrainian commanders ‘direct violation’ of agreement, says Moscow

The return of five Ukrainian commanders from Turkey is a “direct violation” of a prisoner exchange brokered by Ankara last year, Russia has said.

It comes after President Zelenskiy tweeted a video of the men, who led the defence of the city of Mariupol until surrendering in May last year, boarding a plane with him to return to Ukraine.

In a post, he said: “We are returning home from Turkey and bringing our heroes home. They will finally be with their relatives.”

Under the terms of a prisoner swap agreed after the surrender, some of the soldiers involved in the fighting were released, but their commanders were required to go to Turkey until the end of the war.

“The return of the leaders of the Azovites from Turkey to Ukraine is nothing more than a direct violation of the terms of the existing agreements”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti.

“Moreover, in this case, the conditions were violated by both the Ukrainian side and the Turkish side.”

Turkish president Recep Erdoğan said on Saturday that Vladimir Putin would be visiting Turkey next month, although Peskov later said that no date had been agreed.