Ukraine’s Mariupol defenders, Putin ally in prisoner swap

By KARL RITTER
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine has completed a high-profile prisoner swap with Russia, the culmination of months of efforts to free many of the Ukrainian fighters who defended a steel plant in the port of Mariupol during a months-long Russian siege. In exchange, Ukraine gave up an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin it was holding. President Volodymr Zelenskky says his government won freedom from Russian custody for 215 Ukrainian and foreign citizens. He says many were soldiers and officers who had faced the death penalty in Russian-occupied territory. Of the total, 200 Ukrainians were exchanged for just one man — pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk. The 68-year-old oligarch escaped from house arrest in Ukraine several days before Russia’s invasion Feb. 24 but was recaptured in April.