Saving fighters from Azov brigade held in russian captivity: urgent measures required to return the defenders

Currently, it is crucial to actively use various tools to secure the release of the Azov regiment fighters from captivity, since they haven’t been exchanged for a year.

Mariia Alieksieievych, wife of a twice-wounded defender of Mariupol, NGO “Olenivka Community,” made this statement during a briefing at Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform.

“We have been trying to do something here in Ukraine for two years now, we have been trying to somehow raise awareness about them with constant interviews, briefings, various events, rallies. But, as we see, this is not enough. We need to go to the countries that originally negotiated the exit from Azovstal to ask them to help these people again, but this time we ask to return them from the russian captivity. And the second thing is to turn to the countries that have already taken an active part in the exchange of prisoners of war – to Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Because they took part in exchanges, of course, but we don’t know who exactly they negotiated for. That is, we need to ask them specifically about the wounded during the terrorist attack in Olenivka, including the soldiers of the Azov Regiment as well as the defenders who followed the orders to leave (Azovstal – Ed.),” she said.

Mariia Alieksieievych also expressed her belief that the Ukrainian authorities should involve as many third countries as possible in the efforts to save Ukrainian defenders who left Azovstal.

“Because we don’t know how much strength they have left, how much time they have left to wait until they are exchanged,” she emphasized.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news