Ukraine returns 34 Azov fighters from Russian captivity
Photo: Azov fighters who returned during the exchange (t.me/azov_media/6164)
On the night of October 18, it became officially known that Ukraine had returned 95 defenders from Russian captivity. During the exchange, 34 members of the Azov regiment returned home, according to Denys Prokopenko, Commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine.
"In times of intense combat, such news gives the personnel of the 12th Azov Brigade strength and boosts morale. Today, 34 Azov servicemen returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity," the statement said.
Photo: Azov fighters who returned during the exchange (t.me/azov_media/6164)
Prokopenko, also known as Redis, specified that these soldiers defended Mariupol for 86 days, left the territory of Azovstal by order, and spent two and a half years in Russian captivity. He emphasized that thanks to the Mariupol garrison, Ukraine withstood the initial assault in the spring of 2022.
"I welcome you back to our dear homeland and thank you for your resilience and loyalty to Ukraine. The brigade's personnel were looking forward to seeing each of you and did everything possible to replenish the exchange fund with Russian prisoners. I thank the President of Ukraine, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, and the Association of Azovstal Defenders' Families for their thorough work on bringing the captured Azov fighters home," Prokopenko wrote.
He also shared that exchanges involving Azov members are gradually becoming systematic. At the same time, about 900 Azov fighters still remain in Russian prisons, and the common objective is to bring each of them back.
It is worth noting that on the night of October 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had returned 95 defenders from Russian captivity. Among them were the Ukrainian Armed Forces, National Guard, Territorial Defense, border guards, and police officers.
Zelenskyy specified that the fighters who returned had defended Mariupol and Azovstal, as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions.
