No Azov Brigade soldier among prisoners of war liberated on 24 August – brigade commander

Ukrainian prisoners-of-war liberated on 24 August. Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Telegram

There is not a single Azov Brigade soldier among the 115 Ukrainians released from Russian captivity on Saturday.

Source: Denys Prokopenko, Commander of the Azov Brigade, on Facebook

Quote from Denys Prokopenko: “Putin needed to reduce pressure inside Russia and save face by bringing back the conscripts captured in Kursk Oblast. Those responsible for the [prisoners of war] exchanges on the Ukrainian side had to organise a media “victory” timed to the holiday [the Independence Day – ed.], [which is typical for] the Soviet tradition.

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There was no place in this formula for the captured Azov soldiers, who had been waiting for the promised exchanges for more than two years.

In spite of the fact that there is a huge demand from society in Ukraine for the return of those who did everything in Mariupol in 2022 to ensure that Ukraine continued to exist and celebrated Independence Day today – not the “day of national unity”. In spite of the fact that the Russian prisoners themselves asked to be exchanged for the Azov soldiers. In spite of the fact that the Ukrainian negotiating team had enormous leverage during this exchange, speaking from a position of strength.

None of this was used. In today’s [prisoners of war] exchange, there is no Azov soldier again. A precious chance and time have been lost.”

Background:

• On 24 August, Ukraine had liberated another 115 prisoners of war from Russian captivity.
• Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War noted that all those liberated during the 55th prisoners-of-war exchange were conscripts, including those who Russia had captured in the first months of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
• Among those released are nine illegally convicted defenders, sailors and three border guards, as well as 82 defenders of Mariupol (fifty of whom defended Azovstal). 
• Six of Ukraine’s National Guard soldiers from the garrison guarding the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, as well as soldiers who defended Kyiv, Donetsk, Kherson and Luhansk oblasts, were also brought back home.

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