The Investigative Committee of Russia stated that over 400 Azov militants had been taken to various pre-trial detention centers in Russia since the end of September. According to the head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, operational and investigative measures are being taken with them.
Meanwhile, on October 6 and. about. Commander of the Azov Regiment Bogdan Krotevich said that about 2.5 thousand Ukrainian servicemen from Mariupol remained in Russian captivity, among them about 700 Azov fighters. Thus, in his speech, Bastrykin said nothing about the fate of another 300 fighters.
Since Krotevich's statement, only the exchange of 32 Ukrainian prisoners of war from other units has been reported.
On September 21, 200 Ukrainian soldiers, including Azovstal defense commanders, were exchanged for 55 Russians and pro-Russian businessman Viktor Medvedchuk. Earlier, 53 Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the Yelenovka colony, at least 20 of whom were fighters of the Azov regiment. Their bodies were recently returned to Ukraine.
The explosion in the colony in Yelenovka occurred on July 29. 53 people died, 130 were injured. The so-called DPR authorities blamed him on the Ukrainian side. A few hours after the explosion, the pro-Kremlin RIA Novosti published a video that allegedly showed fragments of a HIMARS projectile used by Ukraine at the site of the explosion. The authors of the CNN investigation , who studied videos, photos, satellite images, as well as the work of forensic scientists and weapons experts, reported that the likelihood of a HIMARS missile hitting the colony was virtually impossible. The Russian version that Ukraine struck was implausible, investigators said.
The representative of the press service of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR MOU) Andrey Yusov stated that Russia staged a terrorist attack in a prison for Ukrainian prisoners of war in order to prevent the supply of Western precision weapons. The Insider found out that propagandists reported on the preparation of a "provocation" back in June, and the industrial zone that was struck was empty almost until the shelling. However, a few days before that, hangars were set up there and the Azov fighters were placed in them, which, as it turned out, no one was going to exchange. This was told to The Insider by Vitaly Sitnikov, a 34-year-old volunteer from Mariupol, who himself spent more than three months in a prison in Yelenovka.