Members of National Guard of Ukraine, police officers, border guards, security serviceman exchanged for Medvedchuk

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO – THURSDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2022, 13:02

118 members of the National Guard of Ukraine, 9 border guards, 9 police officers, a member of the Security Service of Ukraine and marines were among the 215 defenders of Mariupol who were liberated from Russian captivity on 21 September. They were exchanged for Viktor Medvedchuk [Ukrainian ally of Putin].

Source: press-services of the National Guard of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, police, the Security Service of Ukraine

Details: The command of the 12th Operational Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine and the Special Operations Forces Azov were among the 118 liberated members of the National Guard of Ukraine.

Nine policemen from the Donetsk Oblast were also liberated: Mykhailo Vershynin, head of the patrol police of Mariupol; Andrii Lakoza, member of the Rapid Operational Response Unit [KORD]; Sviatoslav Yermonov, Oleksandr Rodoles, Oleksandr Toskhoporan, Volodymyr Trakhankov, Serhii Khokhlov and Andrii Shumakov, police operatives of the Donetsk Oblast; Oleksandr Skumin, head of the management sector of organization; and analytical support and operational response units.

Among the liberated border guards there is Valerii Padytel, head of the Donetsk border guard unit, as well as the officers of this unit and a staff sergeant.

The Security Service of Ukraine reports about the liberation of its member with a callsign "Brown".

"Today, we were able to liberate from captivity a member of the Security Service of Ukraine who back-to-back with Denys ‘Redis’ Prokopenko [Azov Regiment commander] defended Azovstal. Before he [a member of the Security Service of Ukraine] was captured, he managed to hand his chevrons over to us in compliance with the requirements of secrecy. It is a great honour for me to personally give back these chevrons to you as a symbol of your coming back to the Security Service team," Vasyl Maliuk, acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine, congratulated the liberated soldier.

It is stated that before the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine, security serviceman [who goes by the alias] "Brown" used to work in the 2nd Department of the Security Service of Ukraine in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts (located in Mariupol). He was engaged in counteraction of the illegal armed formations of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People’s Republic".

The Security Service of Ukraine reports that there were other members of the special service among the Azovstal defenders. After a bomb struck one of the bomb shelters, Vasyl Bohach, colleague and mentor of "Brown", and Oleksandr Suprunov, former member of the Special Operations Forces "Alpha" of the Security Service of Ukraine in Donetsk Oblast, went missing.

"Brown" himself was injured after a tank attack in April.

Ukrainska Pravda also turned to the press-service of the command of Ukrainian Navy to clarify the number of marines liberated on 21 September.

Why is it important: This is the biggest exchange of prisoners of war since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion on 24 February. The liberated defenders will undergo a long process of rehabilitation, adaptation, treatment and recovery.

At the same time, over 2,000 defenders of Mariupol remain in Russian captivity. 

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