ANKARA

Ukraine on Thursday reiterated its appreciation for Türkiye’s role in securing a prisoner swap deal with Russia.

“Ukraine is grateful to Türkiye and personally to the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the mediation efforts that made possible the return of 215 people from Russian captivity. We highly appreciate this support,” said the country’s foreign ministry on Twitter.

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Russia and Ukraine agreed on a prisoner swap deal as a result of Türkiye's mediation and diplomatic exchanges with the leaders of the two countries.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange of 215 Ukrainian soldiers in a video statement and thanked Türkiye for its role.

Russia, for its part, said 55 of its servicemen were released by Kyiv.