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Azov Brigade returns to fight at front

by Martin Fornusek August 17, 2023 1:31 PM 2 min read
The symbol of the Azov Brigade on the uniform of a serviceman who came to the funeral of fallen soldier Oleh Sadyk on June 18, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo credit: Valentyna Polishchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
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The Azov Brigade of Ukraine's National Guard is again carrying out military operations at the front, Colonel Mykola Urshalovych said during a briefing at the Military Media Center on Aug. 17.

"The Special Operations Brigade 'Azov' has recovered and begun carrying out combat tasks in the area of the Serebrianskyi forest," the National Guard officer said.

According to Urshalovych, the Azov Brigade soldiers are holding the captured lines and inflicting heavy losses on enemy manpower and equipment.

On Aug. 15, the brigade's artillery destroyed a Russian mortar and a vehicle near the Serebrianskyi forest in Luhansk Oblast, the officer specified.

The Azov fighters became a symbol of Ukraine's resistance through their tenacious defense of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in the first three months of the war. Russian forces eventually took Mariupol by May 2022, capturing the remaining defenders.

Kyiv managed to exchange around 200 captured soldiers for pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvechuk last year's September. Separately, five top commanders of the Azovstal's defense were exchanged for 55 Russian prisoners and sent to Turkey.

In early July, Ukraine managed to secure the return of the commanders back home, namely Denys Prokopenko, Serhiy Volynskyi, Sviatoslav Palamar, Denys Shleha, and Oleh Khomenko, despite complaints by the Kremlin.

Ukraine war latest: Azovstal defenders return home as Ukraine marks 500 days of full-scale war
Key developments on July 8-9 * Azovstal defenders return home from Turkey * Military reports Ukrainian forces advancing near Bakhmut * Russian attack kills 9 civilians in Lyman, Donetsk Oblast * Kuleba: Ukraine’s path toward NATO ‘to become shorter’ after summit * Duda makes surprise visit to…

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