No Azov soldiers have been exchanged for more than a year. russia wages a cynical battle over negotiations

For more than a year, since May 6, 2023, no Azov soldiers have been exchanged. This was stated by Vladyslav Dutchak, an officer of the Azov National Guard regiment and former prisoner of war, with the call sign “Docent”. The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War emphasized that a cynical and mean battle is being waged by the Russians in the matter of negotiated prisoners and they deliberately do not give them up, reports UNN.

During the prisoner-of-war exchanges, 264 Azov fighters were returned. Among them are 23 fighters who were held in the blown-up barracks. More than 900, we mean those guys who served and are serving in the military unit 3057, more than 900 are still in captivity. Among them are 120 Azov soldiers who survived the attack and almost all of them were wounded. They are still being held by the Russians, and the Red Cross mission still has no access to them. For more than a year, since May 6, 2023, no Azov soldiers have been exchanged

Bohdan Okhrimenko, head of the secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, confirmed that not a single Azov soldier has been returned in over a year.

Just as the enemy is fighting us cynically and viciously, the same battle is being waged in the negotiations. They deliberately do not give us your brothers. This causes a corresponding social tension in the society. We understand the methods they use during this process. On our part, we are open to communication, on our part, we are open to dialogue

He noted that last year was indeed more productive for the Azov regiment.

When the enemy realized how he could use this means of influence, this mechanism of influence, and started using it, we see, unfortunately, Mr. Vladyslav Dutchak is right. Not a single soldier has been returned in a year. The Coordination Headquarters and the negotiation team are constantly looking for new options for communication, not only directly with the Russian side

AddendumAddendum

Yuriy Belousov, head of the Department for Combating Crimes in the Context of Armed Conflict of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, said that the investigation is considering several versions of the terrorist attack in the colony in Olenivka, where 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed and more than 70 were injured, but the main version is that a thermobaric charge was detonated, given the consequences.

Recall

During the explosion on the night of July 29, 2022, which took place on the territory of the former penal colony in the village of Olenivka in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region, the buildingwhere Ukrainian prisoners of war were held was destroyed.

On July 7, 2023, Ukraine managed to return the bodies of prisoners of war who died as a result of a terrorist attack in a colony in the occupied village of Olenivka in Donetsk region. Most of the bodies have been identified.

The UN rejects Russian claimsthat Ukrainian prisoners of war killed in Olenivka were killed by a Ukrainian HIMARS strike