President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a meeting with the freed Ukrainian sailors who had been detained in the Russian Federation. The meeting was also attended by the relatives of the sailors.
The meeting took place in an informal atmosphere in the park courtyard of the Mariyinsky Palace in Kyiv.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated the servicemen on the return to their Homeland.
Separately, the President of Ukraine thanked the relatives of the sailors for the support they provided.
"They are the same heroes as you. They did everything to bring you back, and we helped them,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the sailors.
The President stressed that the operation to return Ukrainians from Russia had been extremely difficult. Many people and authorities have been involved in the process and worked in a coherent manner.
"It was very difficult to keep it a secret when so many people were involved," the Head of State said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed that the issue of housing allocation to the freed sailors in Odesa had already been resolved.
The sailors thanked the President for their return. Some of them invited the Head of State to their wedding.
The sailors also thanked Volodymyr Zelenskyy for wearing bracelets with the names of the detained sailors, as it had drawn attention of the media to the problem of liberation of Ukrainians.
During the meeting, the President presented gifts - presidential watches - to the sailors.
