Russia’s Investigative Committee: 402 Azov Regiment servicemen held in Russian pre-trial detention centres

There are 402 Azov Regiment servicemen being held in Russian pre-trial detention centres, head of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin said during a meeting in the occupied city of Melitopol. The according statement was published on the committee’s website. 

Bastrykin said that the Azov fighters are held in specialised facilities on the territories of the Volgograd, Rostov, Belgorod, and Voronezh regions of Russia. 

At the beginning of October, acting head of the Azov Regiment Mykyta Nadtochyi and former POWs Bogdan Krotevich, Ivan Ignatyev, and Ilya Samoylenko said during a press-conference that about 2,500 servicemen from Mariupol were being held in Russian captivity, with 700 of them being Azov fighters. 

On 21 September, Ukraine exchanged Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of pro-Russian party Opposition Platform — For Life, and 55 Russian POWs for 215 Ukrainian prisoners. Out of that number, 108 were Azov fighters, including regiment commanders Denis Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, and Serhiy Volinskyi. Furthermore, photographer and Azov fighter Dmytro Kozatskyi was also released from Russian captivity.