Ukrainian prisoner of war Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov regiment, was taken to Russia, according to his wife Kateryna Prokopenko referring to Russian media in her interview with Suspilne. However, she says, Ukrainian state agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) haven’t yet confirmed this.
“It’s basically the Red Cross’s job to answer me, but I still don’t know where my husband is. Even if he is in Russia, there is, in principle, communication with the Moscow office of the Red Cross. But there’s none. This means that there is, perhaps, a certain agreement with the very Russian authorities not to give out information about the whereabouts, etc.” Mrs. Prokopenko said.
According to her, there are very few cases when the ICRC informed the relatives of the location where Russia holds their sons. Still, the representatives of this international organization don’t have answers about their health conditions, meal, living conditions, torture, and availability of medical care, “although they should have provided” such answers.
For years, the Russian propaganda pushed forward false narratives that the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is a “Nazi” formation that acts independently from the Ukrainian troops.
Recently, the Russian Supreme Court declared the Azov Regiment a “terrorist organization.”
The defenders of Mariupol, which included the Azov, the 36th Marine Brigade, border guars, patrol police and other units surrendered in the second half of May under an order from Kyiv about what was called “evacuation.”
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