Head of State: On 500th day of war, we bring our heroes back home

On the 500th day of the war, Ukraine returned its heroes, the commanders who were defending Mariupol and Azovstal steelworks.

The relevant statement was made by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Lviv, as he came back from Türkiye together with five Ukrainian warriors, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Today, on the 500th day of the war, we have brought back home, to Ukraine, our five heroes, Heroes of Ukraine, the commanders who were defending Mariupol and Azovstal – Denys Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Serhiy Volynsky, Oleh Khomenko and Denys Shleha. They fought for Ukraine, they fought heroically, absolutely. They went through Russian captivity, then they spent more than 300 days in Türkiye, it is time for them to be home,” Zelensky said.

The Head of State expressed gratitude to President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish side for assistance with freeing Ukrainians.

Zelensky also thanked the Ukrainian team working to bring Ukrainians home, namely Andriy Yermak, Kyrylo Budanov, Ihor Klymenko, Rustem Umerov, and the Security Service of Ukraine.

A reminder that, in September 2022, as part of the prisoner swap, a total of 215 Ukrainian defenders were released from Russian captivity, including the commanders of the Ukrainian defenders who fought for Azovstal steelworks. Since then, they had been staying in Türkiye under the personal guarantees of protection and safety of President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.