The head of the President's Office, Andrii Yermak, has said that the captured soldiers of the Azov Regiment, who left the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant (Mariupol, Donetsk region), are definitely alive, but it is not clearly known under what conditions they are kept.
He said this in an interview with the Left Bank, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"We know that they (Azovstal defenders) are alive. As for the conditions, this issue is also being monitored. We cannot say clearly under what conditions. But we know for sure that they are alive. The Defence Intelligence constantly keeps it under control, there is a connection with some of them, and the process to release them does not stop for an hour. I really hope that it will enter its active phase, and we will begin to return our heroes to Ukraine," Yermak said.
The head of the Office noted that negotiations and consultations on the release of captured fighters are still ongoing.
Yermak also stressed that the process of returning the bodies of killed Ukrainian heroes has begun.
To date, more than 200 bodies have been returned, and at the moment an examination is being carried out so that relatives and families can receive and bury the deceased.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in mid-May, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that an operation had begun to rescue the defenders of Mariupol from the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant.
In total, about 2,500 ighters are in captivity.
The State Duma of Russia intends to ban the exchange of defenders of Ukraine, who held positions at the Azovstal metallurgical plant.
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