Azov Regiment commanders said to be taken to a Moscow detention centre
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO – SUNDAY, 19 JUNE 2022, 20:37
The Russian media is reporting that the commanders of the Azov Regiment who took part in the defence of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol are currently being held in the Lefertovo pre-trial detention centre in Moscow.
Source: TASS, a Russian news agency, quoting a source in Russian law enforcement
Quote from TASS’s source: "Several members of the Azov [Regiment - ed.] command who were taken prisoner during the storm of Mariupol have been taken to Lefertovo."
Details: The source did not clarify who among the Azov Regiment command had been taken to Moscow.
Earlier: A TASS source has earlier claimed that the commanders of the Azov Regiment were taken to the territory of the Russian Federation to conduct "pre-trial investigation." Ukrainian soldiers who took part in the defence of Azovstal were previously held in Olenivka, a Russian-occupied town in Donetsk Oblast.
Read also: An Island of Hope: How the Azovstal defenders got out and where they are now
Background:
- Ukrainian soldiers who took part in the defence of Mariupol and who were able to leave Azovstal were being held captive in a penal colony in the occupied territory of Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainska Pravda sources in the Ukrainian government have confirmed that all 2,449 people who left Azovstal are now held in Olenivka, an urban-type settlement in Donetsk Oblast, as prisoners of war.
- Mariupol defenders were able to leave Azovstal for Russian-controlled territory of Ukraine between 16 and 20 May. According to Russia, 2,439 soldiers left Azovstal bunkers. The International Committee of the Red Cross representatives registered the Ukrainian soldiers leaving Azovstal as prisoners of war.
- The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has stated that the defenders of Mariupol had completed their combat mission, and unit commanders had been ordered to save the lives of military personnel. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence insisted that the only way to rescue Ukrainian soldiers defending Azovstal was to follow the above-mentioned procedure.
- Some Russians and their collaborators from the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts threaten Ukrainian soldiers with a "tribunal." Prisoner exchange has not yet been confirmed, despite previous agreements.
