No Azov fighters in 1,000-for-1,000 POWs exchange, Ukraine's Intelligence explains

According to Yusov, this time the process took place in the format of mutual lists, and it was the Russian side that independently submitted the list of those it was ready to release. Ukraine did the same, a Ukrainian representative said.

"The Mariupol garrison is one of the priority directions for return. And the results of this work are already evident," a Representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine explained.

Today, after the final stage of the 1,000-for-1,000 exchange, Denys Prokopenko, Commander of the 1st Corps of Azov National Guard of Ukraine, stated that not a single serviceman from the Azov Brigade was included in the large-scale exchange.

1,000-for-1,000 POWs exchange

On May 16 in Türkiye, during negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, an agreement was reached on a large-scale 1,000-for-1,000 POWs exchange.

Due to its scale, the process began on May 23 and was carried out in stages over several days.

In the first stage, 390 people were released from Russian captivity: 270 military personnel and 120 civilians. Among them were servicemen from the Navy, Airborne Assault Forces, National Guard, Territorial Defense Forces, and Border Guard Service.

Yesterday, the second day of the large-scale exchange took place, and Ukraine returned 307 military personnel. Among them were 27 defenders of Mariupol, and for the first time, fighters from several specific military units were released from captivity.

As of today, another 303 Ukrainians have returned from Russian captivity. Among them were 70 fighters who defended Mariupol.

RBC-Ukraine also published exclusive footage of the large-scale prisoner exchange, which was released by the Security Service of Ukraine.