Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska met with Azov commanders who were brought to Istanbul as a result of the prisoner swap deal brokered by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan between Russia and Ukraine last month.
Zelenska on Tuesday shared on Twitter that she, along with Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, met with the commanders who fought at the Azovtsal Plant and their families.
"Met with 'Azov' heroes in Turkey – expressed gratitude for the striving and resilience. Andriy Yermak helped in arranging a meeting with their families. It is an important day, but there is still a long way to go. Ukraine will fight for freedom and returning of each person back home," she wrote.
Yermak on Tuesday also said he "personally thanked" Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan for the recent prisoner swap with Russia.
Türkiye played an instrumental role in a deal that led to Moscow releasing 215 Ukrainian soldiers in exchange for 55 Russian servicemen last month.
Yermak arrived in Türkiye over the weekend for meetings with senior Turkish officials, including Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın, as well as U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Yermak said he met with Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) head Fidan and "personally thanked him for facilitating the release of 215 soldiers and providing conditions for Azovstal defenders in Türkiye."
"Ukraine highly appreciates reliable partnership with Türkiye and is looking forward to close cooperation in the future," he added.
On Monday, he also met five Ukrainian servicemen who were among those captured by Russian forces at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
Hailed in Ukraine as the "defenders of Azovstal," the five Ukrainians are in Türkiye "according to the terms of exchange under the personal guarantees of protection of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan," according to a statement from the Ukrainian presidential office.
Turkish officials also helped Yermak organize a meeting of the five Ukrainians with their family members.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who shared a video message, stated that the Ukrainian soldiers brought to Türkiye as a result of the prisoner exchange with Russia are safe.
The Ukrainian leader emphasized that he was very pleased that the Azov commanders who fought in Azovstal met with their families in Istanbul.
He pointed out that the Ukrainian soldiers are safe with the support of President Erdoğan.
"They are completely safe with the assurance of Turkish President Erdoğan. Favorable conditions were provided (to the soldiers) and now they can see their relatives. They haven't seen each other for months and now I'd like to thank everyone who made it possible for them to be with their families again," Zelenskyy said.
NATO member Türkiye has close ties with both Russia and Ukraine and has sought to balance relations through the war, rejecting Western sanctions on Moscow while also criticizing the Russian invasion and supplying Kyiv with armed drones.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged more than 200 prisoners of war last month as a result of Türkiye's mediation and diplomatic traffic conducted with the countries' leaders, President Erdoğan had announced.
Erdoğan told reporters in New York City that the prisoner exchange under Türkiye's mediation was an "important step" toward ending the war between the two countries.
He noted that efforts to establish peace between Russia and Ukraine continue.
The swap was the biggest exchange between the warring sides since the start of Russia's invasion in February.
