Ex-POW responds to Azov commander's criticism of latest prisoner exchange with Russia
Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners on Independence Day (photo: t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official)
The Ukrainian conscripts who were released from Russian captivity on Independence Day had been tortured and starved to death. Therefore, their return from captivity cannot be called “lost time and chance,” states former prisoner of war Maksym Kolesnikov.
On Saturday, August 24, another prisoner exchange took place between Russia and Ukraine, in which 115 conscripts returned from Russian captivity. Commenting on the event, Azov commander Denis “Redis” Prokopenko blamed the Ukrainian authorities for not returning any Azov prisoners home as part of the exchange.
“Despite the fact that the Russian prisoners themselves asked to be exchanged for the Azovs. Despite the fact that the Ukrainian negotiation team had tremendous leverage during this exchange, speaking from a position of strength. All of this was not used. In today's exchange, there is once again not a single Azov soldier. A precious chance and time have been lost,” he wrote on social network X, adding that Azov people are treated the worst in captivity.
Maksym Kolesnikov, a former Russian prisoner of war himself, responded to Prokopenko's statement, pointing out that 15 of the more than 30 soldiers of his unit, who have been held in Russia since March 20, 2022, were released as part of this exchange.
“These are all conscripts. Some were in a colony in the Vladimir region. Some were in Mordovian camps. All of them were starving for two and a half years. All were tortured. All are in for months of rehabilitation. All of them were surrounded and surrendered after several battles under orders. With all due respect to Redis, with all the admiration for the Azov feat, and with all the desire to return the heroes of Mariupol, yesterday Ukraine did not waste time and chance,” Kolesnikov wrote on his page in X.
As part of the exchange, nine illegally convicted defenders were released from Russian captivity. Also, military sailors, three border guards, and 82 defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal were returned home.
Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets expressed hope that exchanges between Ukraine and Russia could become regular and take place almost every week. According to him, this is influenced by the number of Russian soldiers in Ukrainian captivity.
