Return of “AZOV” commanders from Turkey
July 8, 2023. President Volodymyr Zelensky was the first to talk about the return of AZOV fighters: “We are returning home from Turkey and bringing home our heroes — the return of the commanders of “Azov”
“Ukrainian soldiers Denis Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Serhiy Volynsky, Oleg Khomenko, Denis Shlega will finally be with their families,” the President wrote.
Together with the President on board the plane, the Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Klymenko congratulated the return of our Heroes.
Ukraine has returned to their homeland five Azovstal defenders who were in Turkey after their release from Russian captivity. According to the results of negotiations with the Turkish side, Ukraine returned to their homeland the military — defenders of “Azovstal”: the commander of a separate detachment of the special purpose unit of the National Guard “Azov” Hero of Ukraine Denis Prokopenko, his deputy Sviatoslav Palamar, acting commander of the 36th Separate Brigade Marine Brigade Sergey Volynsky, Senior Officer “Azov” Oleg Khomenko and Commander of the 12th Brigade of the National Guard Denis Shlegu.
The military had been in Turkey after their release from Russian captivity in September 2022. President Vladimir Zelensky met with defenders at Istanbul airport.
“Greetings to you! You are our heroes. I am very happy about your return to your homeland. Glory to Ukraine!” — said the head of state. On board the aircraft, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with the defenders of “Azovstal” and thanked them for their courage and steadfastness.
We will say our word again: the dismissed commanders of the defenders of “Azovstal” will return to the front - said the commander of “Azov” Denis Prokopenko.
“I am deeply convinced that the army is teamwork, and from today we will continue the fight with you, we will definitely say our word in battle.
The most important thing is that the Ukrainian army has seized the strategic initiative on the front line and every day we are moving forward, destroying the enemy, liberating the temporarily occupied territories.
And we will do everything possible and impossible to speed up this process and for the war to reach its logical conclusion,” the Azov commander stressed.
The special purpose brigade “Azov” returned to the front, - the acting director of the Department of Application Planning of the Main Directorate of the National Guard of Ukraine, Colonel Mykola Urshalovich, said on August 17.
“The legendary special purpose brigade “Azov” recovered and began performing combat tasks in the area of the Serebryansky forestry,” the Military Media Center quotes him as saying.
According to Urshalovich, “Azov” fighters “hold the occupied borders and inflict losses in manpower and equipment to the enemy.”
The Azov Regiment held the defense of Mariupol at the Azovstal plant for almost three months in the spring of 2022. In May, the defenders of “Azovstal” by order of the command left the territory of the plant. More than two thousand Ukrainian servicemen who defended the city were captured by the Russian military, a significant part of them served in the Azov regiment.
Since September last year, several hundred Azov fighters have been returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange. Among them is the command of the regiment.
