After yesterday’s prisoner exchange , which took place on August 24 , new details and context have emerged that require careful analysis and discussion. First of all, in the information sphere. One of the most resonant wasthe statement of ” Denys “Redis” Prokopenko , commander of Azov, said about the exchange.
First, a fact to remember:
- Denys Prokopenko is the commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade “Azov” (12 BrSF, military unit 3057), which in February 2023 was reorganized from the 12th Operational Brigade and, together with the separate special forces detachment of the NGU “Azov”, became what it is now. At the time of the full-scale invasion, it included not only the Azov Special Forces detachment but also other units. Including conscripts. According to the available data, among the approximately 900 captured Azov fighters, about 700 were Azov contract soldiers, and about 200 were other contract soldiers and conscripts. All of them were commanded by Denis Prokopenko.
- During the exchange that resulted in Denys Prokopenko and other Mariupol defense commanders ending up in Turkey, was their stay in Turkey until the end of the war and a ban on communication with journalists.
- After his return from Turkey, Denys Prokopenko could not help but realize that the conditions under which the Russians had promised security and the return of the Mariupol garrison home had been violated. However, he returned to command his unit and repeatedly made various public statements. This was the formal reason for Russia to stop further exchanges. Which hasn’t happened for more than six months.
- The garrison of Mariupol’ s defenders consisted not only of theAzov fighters. There were the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, border guards, police, volunteers, and the Mariupol terrorist defense.
Reaction to Denis Prokopenko ‘ s post in Ukraine
In the comments to theAzov commander’s post , opinions were divided. and many representatives of the families of prisoners of war, who belonged to other units and brigades sharply criticized Denys Prokopenko.
Natalia Yepifanova, the head of the NGO “Voyatsky Vyzvol”, wrote:
Today, 115 Ukrainian defenders who had been in enemy captivity for more than 2 years have been returned. These are mostly defenders of Mariupol and Kyiv region.
More than 80 soldiers who have returned from hellish captivity today are members of the military unit 3057 of the National Guard of Ukraine, which today is still known as the 12th Azov Brigade, whose commander is Colonel Denis Prokopenko.
However, Mr. Denys is outraged that they did not return the fighters he would have liked.
Does the brigade commander have the right to write this publicly?
At a meeting with his family, which took place in 2023 , immediately after the commanders of the of the Mariupol garrison (please do not confuse the commanders of the Mariupol garrison, not Azov) , Mr. Prokopenko promised to fight for all the soldiers of the 3057th military unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, which he had just begun to lead, regardless of whether they had undergone military training or belonged to a separate unit, whether he had undergone military training and belonged to a separate special forces unit Azov until 2022 or belonged to the nucleus of the NGU’s military unit 3057 promised to fight for everyone to be returned from captivity.
And so today’s post by Mr. Denys is surprising, concern and unpleasant feelings among the families of the captured soldiers of the military unit 3057 , who belong to the core of the unit.
Every Ukrainian soldier on the battlefield and in captivity is a defender of Ukraine.
To conduct rhetoric, that one unit is better than another or that some fighters have more rights to return from captivity than others is destructive and does not work for the cohesion of either the army or the rear.
Mr. Denys ‘s indignation that today Russian conscripts were exchanged for 80 Ukrainian conscripts of the NGU’s military unit 3057, when they were supposed to be exchanged for Azov soldiers, and that this is some kind of betrayal of the Ukrainian government, is very surprising. I would like to ask Mr. Denis: What about your promises to the families that you will defend the interests of every serviceman of the NGU military unit 3057?
Othersalso misunderstood the purpose of the post, and we have collected only a part of it:
Reaction to Denys Prokopenko ‘s post on Russia
The enemy propaganda quickly picked up on the heroic commander ‘s useful post. First, it allowed to hide the real dissatisfaction with the terms of the exchange among Russians, since in Russia, the conscripts who were exchanged were equated in most zet-publics with traitors who freely let the”Nazis” into the Kursk region. Secondly, this post makes another artificial split in Ukrainian society, which plays into the hands of the enemy.
Overall, the general perception of this exchange and its terms in Russia is negative, as Ukraine returned those who had long been in captivity and participated in the defense of Mariupol, and Russia exchanged conscripts who surrendered without resistance at the border. Plus, the exchange took place on Independence Day, which was perceived in Russia as a gift to Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the holiday.
Conclusions.
No one in the state, except for the negotiating team, has the real state of the negotiations and information about Ukraine ‘s existing exchange fund, Therefore, it is a very hasty opinion to talk about lost opportunities after Kursk. Denys Prokopenko’ s post has already had a negative impact on Ukrainian society and caused outrage among the families of prisoners of war, who do not belong toAzov, which is a significant majority.
This post also made these families very vulnerable to Russian influence, as a survey of POW families conducted in 2023 by the Research and Analysis Group InfoLight.UA Research and Analysis Group, they are very vulnerable to such information influences. That is why communication of exchange issues should be handled by people and institutions, who have all the information and are specially trained for this work.
Prisoner exchanges are not an openly traded exchange where media fraud can be used to make a profit. Also, reckless commentary can contribute to destabilizing the situation in a country.
We treat every defender of Ukraine with respect, Most of our first team members are in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We are sincerely grateful for the rank and bravery of Denys Prokopenko and allAzov soldiers. But we cannot but draw attention to the dangers mentioned in the article.
