Over 900 Azov fighters remain in Russian captivity for 600 days – POW families’ association

More than 900 soldiers from the Azov 12th Special Purpose Brigade of the National Guard have been held in Russian captivity for 600 days already.

The Association of Families of Azovstal Defenders reported this on Telegram, Ukrinform saw.

"For 600 days, more than 900 fighters from the Azov 12th Special Purpose Brigade of the National Guard, who fought with the enemy’s overwhelming forces in the besieged Mariupol, have been in captivity," the statement says.

The Association noted that in the spring of 2022, Azov fighters won time for the whole country, and today it is the duty of every Ukrainian to get them out of their horrific captivity.

"We remember our captured brothers-in-arms and their feat. And we are doing everything so that they get back home. Their freedom is our greatest motivation," the association emphasized.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Ukrainian military defended Mariupol for more than 80 days. On May 16, the evacuation of defenders from the Azovstal plant blocked by the Russian invaders began, which lasted several days.

On the night of July 29, 2022, Russia committed a terrorist attack, setting off an explosion in the barracks of the Olenivka penal colony, which housed Ukrainian prisoners of war. At least 50 Azovstal defenders were killed on that day.

According to Kateryna Prokopenko, the spouse of Azov Commander Denys Prokopenko, at least 50 soldiers were killed in the Azov regiment and about 100 were wounded.

Photo: Dmytro "Orest" Kozatskyi, Azovstal