Ukraine's Zelenskiy brings home Azovstal commanders from Turkey on war's 500th day

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks with commanders of defenders of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol Denys Prokopenko, Sviatoslav Palamar, Denys Shleha, Serhii Volynskyi and Oleh Homenko inside a plane as they return to Ukraine from Istanbul, Turkey July 8, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy brought home from Turkey on Saturday five former commanders of Ukraine's garrison in Mariupol, a highly symbolic achievement that Russia said violated a prisoner exchange deal engineered last year.

Russia immediately denounced the release. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ankara had promised under the exchange agreement to keep the men in Turkey and complained Moscow had not been informed.