Officials of the National Guard of Ukraine have pointed out that the nationalist unit is currently carrying out missions in the vicinity of the Serebrian Forestry.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that regarding the return of the Azov leaders, there had been a violation of the agreements between Moscow and Ankara, and that Russia would be addressing the matter with the Turkish authorities, as they had already initiated discussions on it.
The presidential spokesman highlighted that Moscow was anticipating further information to clarify the matter and would consider it when forming future agreements.
Simultaneously, he stressed that the situation had no connection whatsoever with the creation of a gas hub in Turkiye.
At the end of April last year, Russian forces trapped over 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers and fighters of the Azov Battalion* in the Azovstal factory in Mariupol. In mid-May, they began to surrender, and on May 20, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the complete liberation of the city.
In September, Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), spoke about an exchange that freed 56 people from Ukrainian captivity. At the time, 215 people, including the leaders of Azov, were handed over to Kiev. Until recently, these Azov members were in Turkiye, reportedly due to Russia's demands.
In July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a visit to Turkiye, where he held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Upon his return to Kiev, he wrote on his Telegram channel that Azov fighters Denis Prokopenko, Sviatoslav Palamar, Serhiy Volynskyi, Oleh Khomenko, and Denis Shlega were going back with him.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov then stated that Ankara's decision to extradite them to Ukraine violated agreements with Russia and was directly related to the failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive.
*The Azov Battalion is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.