About 2,000 soldiers from Azovstal are still in captivity - wife of Azov regiment commander Kateryna Prokopenko

This was reported by Kateryna Prokopenko, wife of the commander of the Azov regiment, Hero of Ukraine Denys Prokopenko, during an honorary lecture at the Kyiv Security Forum on the occasion of the Day of Unity of Ukraine.

"There are many of them wounded from the Azovstal era or from torture. There are also many women. I ask everyone to make every effort and join in the liberation of the heroes from captivity, to support the families of the victims, to support those who have been released from captivity, those who need rehabilitation," the Hero's wife addressed all Ukrainians.

Kateryna Prokopenko reminded that before being captured, Ukrainian defendershad been heroically holding the defense of Mariupol for 86 days in unequal conditions.

"We can talk for a long time about Russia's crimes in Mariupol. Just imagine that all the crimes of the world were localized there: looting, violence, using civilians as shields, firing on civilian and critical facilities, killing prisoners of war on the spot," she said.

The commander's wife reminded that the perpetrators of the terrorist attack in Olenivka, where about 50 soldiers were killed and about 100 prisoners of war were wounded, have not been punished yet: "Will the perpetrators be punished? The UN mission to investigate the tragedy has been disbanded, and the Red Cross still cannot come to the camps of Ukrainian prisoners of war."

Kateryna Prokopenko noted that the wives of the Heroes created the Association of Families of Azovstal Defenders to fight for the rights of their husbands. "And I realized that the importance of the women's liberation movement cannot be underestimated. For the lives of their loved ones, for the punishment of the perpetrators, spouses who are waiting can even reach Mars to return their loved ones, punish the guilty and achieve justice."

She called on the entire civilized world not to stand by while Russia grossly violates the Geneva Convention and even executes prisoners of war on live television.

"Mariupol and Azovstal have shown the whole world what those who believe in their homeland and its freedom, who will never betray, who will fight to the last for every piece of Ukrainian land, are capable of. The living must fight for the dead, the healthy for the wounded, and the free for the captives!" said Kateryna Prokopenko.