Azov NGU soldiers return from captivity, including 19 Mariupol defenders – commander

Commander of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU) "Azov," Colonel Denys Prokopenko, reported the return of 20 Azov soldiers to Ukraine as part of an exchange on Friday, 19 of whom were defenders of Mariupol.

"The first stage of the ‘1000 for 1000’ exchange has begun. Today, 20 soldiers of the 1st Corps of the NGU ‘Azov’ returned to their native land, including 19 defenders of Mariupol. Four years in Russian captivity, and finally, a meeting with relatives who fought for their return and waited for this day. I welcome my brothers-in-arms home to Ukraine. Thank you for the resilience, courage, and strength you showed every day in extremely difficult circumstances, under around-the-clock pressure from the inhuman Russian system, which failed to defeat you," Prokopenko wrote on Facebook.

He thanked the President of Ukraine for his attention to the issue of prisoner exchanges, the soldiers from various units who replenish the exchange fund, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, SBU, GUR, the "Association of Families of Azovstal Defenders," and all countries facilitating the negotiation process.

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that 205 Ukrainian prisoners of war returned home today, marking the first stage of a large-scale exchange in a 1000-for-1000 format. Zelenskyy said the released individuals include privates, sergeants, and officers.

"Most of them had been in Russian captivity since 2022. They defended Ukraine in Mariupol and Azovstal, as well as in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhia, Sumy, and Kyiv directions, and at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant," he said.