Russia releases 10 foreigners captured in Ukraine

RIYADH (Reuters) – Russia on Wednesday released 10 foreigners it had detained in Ukraine, including five Britons and two Americans, in a Saudi-brokered prisoner exchange.

The ministry said in a statement that the released prisoners, including a Croat, a Moroccan and a Swede, had been flown to Saudi Arabia.

The statement stated that “the concerned Saudi authorities received them and transferred them from Russia to the Kingdom and are facilitating the procedures for their countries.” The ministry did not name the prisoners.

A senior Kyiv official said Russia on Wednesday released 215 Ukrainians it had captured after a protracted battle for the port city of Mariupol earlier this year, including top military commanders. Read more

Andrei Yermak, chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the released Ukrainians included the commander and deputy commander of the Azov battalion that did most of the fighting.

A family representative told Reuters on Wednesday that the two US citizens released were Alexander Drake, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27. Read more

The two, both from Alabama, were captured in June while fighting in eastern Ukraine, where they had gone to support Ukrainian forces resisting a Russian invasion.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken welcomed the two’s release and thanked the Ukrainian government and the Saudi crown prince for their roles.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss hailed the release of the five British nationals on Twitter as “very welcome news” after “months of uncertainty and suffering for them and their families”.

They were not named, but British MP Robert Jenrick said Aiden Aslin was among those released. He was arrested earlier this year and sentenced to death by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, one of Russia’s proxies in eastern Ukraine. Read more

And Saudi media reported that the released Moroccan is Ibrahim Saadoun, who was sentenced to death, along with Aslin.

Swedish Foreign Minister Anne Linde told Swedish news agency TT on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York that a Swedish national arrested in Mariupol and facing a possible death sentence under DRC laws was also among those released.

A large number of foreigners have traveled to Ukraine to fight since the Russian invasion on February 24. Some were captured by Russian forces, along with other foreigners in the country who said they were not combatants.

The mediation included Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who maintained close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including within the framework of the OPEC + group of oil producers, despite intense pressure from Washington, a traditional ally of Riyadh, to isolate Russia.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have captured hundreds of enemy combatants since the beginning of the conflict, with only a few prisoners being exchanged.

The head of the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said earlier this month that Russia does not allow access to prisoners of war, adding that the UN has evidence that some have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment that may amount to war crimes. Read more

Russia denies torture or other ill-treatment of prisoners of war.

(Aziz Al-Yaqoubi report). Additional reporting by Niklas Pollard in Stockholm and Kanishka Singh in Washington. Editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Cynthia Osterman and Rosalba O’Brien

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