The commander of the Azov National Guard brigade, Colonel Denis ("Radis") Prokopenko, does not hide his indignation that within the framework of the large-scale prisoner exchange with Russia in the 1,000-for-1,000 format, the Ukrainian authorities have not achieved the return of a single Azov prisoner.
Points of attention
- The commander suggests exploring alternative tactics to ensure the return of Azov prisoners, including offering more valuable individuals to the Russians in exchange.
- Prokopenko also calls for increased efforts to address the issue of Russian agents in Ukraine and proposes Ukraine's participation in exchange processes with Western allies.
“Redis” criticized the authorities’ approach to prisoner exchanges
Not a single Azov. Among the one thousand Ukrainian prisoners of war who were exchanged today, there is not a single Azov. But the scumbag who asked for a knife from the butchers to cut our fighters has returned. This looks like a mockery. Over those who have been under inhuman pressure in Russian captivity for four years, in the worst conditions. Over their relatives, loved ones and brothers.
Denys "Radis" Prokopenko
Commander of the Azov National Guard Brigade
According to “Redis,” the Azov soldiers have the absolute right to be given priority for exchanges because they were captured not of their own free will, but by order of the high command.
Prokopenko also noted that he would never believe that the only reason for the absence of Azovs in most exchanges is the Russians' reluctance to give them up.
If this were the case, neither I nor the other Azov fighters would have returned from captivity. The reason is different. If the established mechanism stops working, expecting a different result every time is madness. We need to change tactics. The Russians refuse to exchange Azov soldiers for their regular soldiers? We are finding options to offer them someone who is more important to them than the Omsk contract soldier.
Against this background, "Redis" added that Ukraine is filled to the brim with Russian agents — all special services know this perfectly well, they just need to be given a command.
I think that priests from the Moscow Patriarchate, who openly work for Russian special services, should interest Russians more than the soldiers with whom the Russian Federation is filling the lands of Ukraine. At the same time, it would not be out of place to try to work out the issue of Ukraine's participation in the exchange processes between Western allies and Russians... I do not believe that the authorities are interested in the return of Azov residents if the same people have been ineffectively engaged in the exchanges for the fourth year," the Azov commander admitted.
