On December 30, one of the largest prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and the aggressor country Russia took place - 187 defenders, including Azov soldiers, were rescued from enemy captivity.
Points of attention
- The “Azovtsi” spent almost 3 years in captivity and endured extremely difficult trials.
- This is one of the largest exchanges, as a result of which 189 Ukrainian citizens were saved.
Ukraine was able to reach an agreement with Russia on rescuing 11 more “Azovites”
The good news was shared by the commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov", Hero of Ukraine Denys Prokopenko.
According to him, the 11 fighters whose lives were saved had to endure extremely difficult trials that lasted almost 3 years.
86 days of defense of Mariupol, heavy fighting at the limit of human capabilities, captivity, prisons, interrogations, torture. They did not give up and emerged from this hell as winners. I congratulate everyone who will finally be able to see and hug their relatives today, who will spend the winter holidays with loved ones, and not under the supervision of the guards, on their return. Thank you for your courage and strength of spirit.
Denis Prokopenko
Commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov", Hero of Ukraine
He also expressed gratitude to those Azov soldiers who managed to capture 68 militants in the Torets direction and to all SOU units that replenish the exchange fund on all sectors of the front.
As Prokopenko noted, this is a large-scale contribution to the return home of our prisoners of war.
I want to thank the President of Ukraine and his team, representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Security Service, the Association of Families of Azovstal Defenders, and everyone who works every day to return our prisoners to Ukraine, the commander added.
Prisoner exchange between Ukraine and the Russian Federation — important details
It is worth noting that this is one of the largest exchanges conducted by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War since February 24, 2022.
The following were rescued from enemy captivity:
87 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (17 of them — TRO),
43 — NSU,
33 — State State Administration of Ukraine,
24 — Navy.
In addition, it is indicated that two civilians returned home today.
These are military men — defenders of Azovstal and Mariupol, the Chernobyl NPP, Zmiyny Island, from different directions of the front. Among them are soldiers, sergeants, officers. These are National Guardsmen, including Azov soldiers, border guards, Teroboronivtsi, soldiers of the Navy and Armed Forces. And also two civilians who were captured in Mariupol. Everyone has relatives and friends waiting for them at home. And it is a joy that we managed to return them. Today, 189 more families are happy.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
