Home > World News > Putin welcomes those who returned to Moscow following the prisoner swap in Ankara

Putin welcomes those who returned to Moscow following the prisoner swap in Ankara

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the individuals returned to Russia at Vnukovo Airport in the capital, Moscow.

AA

Putin arrived at Vnukovo Airport in the capital, Moscow, and waited for the individuals returned to Russia via the swap to disembark from the plane. Putin shook hands with each person as they stepped off the plane, then walked with the swapped individuals along a red carpet into the airport building, where he delivered a speech.

Thanking them for remaining loyal to their oath to Russia, Putin stated that they would be awarded state decorations.

Putin was accompanied by Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Aleksandr Bortnikov, and Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin.

The Russian Honor Guard was also present at the welcome ceremony.

The MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Organization) carried out the most comprehensive prisoner swap operation of recent times today, involving the mutual exchange of 26 people held in prisons in the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus.

Here are those images: