On September 21, 2022, Ukraine conducted several exchanges with the Russian Federation and released a total of 215 prisoners of war, 124 of them officers.

Those released included many defenders of Mariupol, namely 108 soldiers of the Azov Regiment.

The 215 released servicemen also included 10 foreigners and 5 Ukrainian commanders.

The commanders of Azov Regiment Denys “Redis” Prokopenko, Svyatoslav “Kalyna” Palamar, Oleh Khomenko, Serhiy “Volyna” Volynskyi, Commander of the 36th brigade, and Denys Shlega, Commander of the 12th Operational Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard, are free. They will be staying on the territory of Turkey until the end of the war under the guarantees of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

During the live broadcast from Istanbul, “Redis”, “Volyna”, “Kalyna”, and Denys Shlega gave a short remark to the Ukrainian people.

Also, photos featuring the release of other famous defenders of Mariupol were posted online. In particular, one photo shows Mykhailo Dianov, senior sergeant of the 36th Marine Brigade.

The military medic of the Azov Regiment Kateryna “Ptashka” Polishchuk, who became famous after her chants during the defense of Azovstal, was also released from captivity.

Mykhailo Vershinin, Head of the Mariupol Patrol Police, was also released.

Dmytro “Orest” Kozatskyi, a press officer of the Azov Regiment, whose photo from Azovstal went viral all over the world, was also released from captivity.

The full list of the freed heroes was published by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

The exchange took place in the Chernihiv region. Freed Ukrainians were brought by buses from the territory of Belarus.

Vasyl Malyuk, Acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine, reported that 200 prisoners of war were exchanged for Putinʼs crony Viktor Medvedchuk and Russian POWs. According to Zelensky, Ukraine was ready to exchange even one Azov Regiment soldier for Medvedchuk.

Russian media reports that five Ukrainian commanders were swapped for 55 prisoners of war of the Russian Federation. Those included 2 senior officers, 6 junior officers, 4 ensigns, 40 sergeants and privates, 2 military personnel from the “DPR,” and 1 from the “LPR”.