Ukrainian Navy command presents awards to released sailors
Ukrainian sailors, who were released as part of prisoners exchange between Russia and Ukraine, were awarded orders and military ranks, reports the press service of the Ukrainian Naval Forces on Facebook.
"The commander of Ukrainian Naval Forces Admiral Ihor Voronchenko handed over awards and the higher military ranks to our soldiers," reads the message of the press service.
It also noted that the sailors will undergo a medical examination to determine the state of health "after the terrible conditions of Russian prisons." Then they will go home.
On Saturday, September 7, Russia and Ukraine completed the prisoner exchange according to the 35 for 35 formula. Twenty-four sailors and the film director Oleh Sentsov were returned to Ukraine. Kirill Vyshinsky,the head of Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti’s Ukraine branch, and the militant of Donetsk People's Republic Vladimir Tsemakh, who is a suspect in the rash of MH17 plane crash, were among those, who returned to Russia. The detained sailors were transferred to Ukraine under the guarantee of the Ukrainian Ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova.