The fighter’s heart could not stand it.
The commander of the 1st battalion of the “Azov” regiment and the defender of “Azovstal” Oleg Mudrak died. The fighter served six months of Russian captivity.
His nephew Danylo announced the death of the defender on Instagram. “The sage Oleg Vasyliovych is a major, a hero, an iron man, my uncle, my brother, my support, my pride, my beacon and an example of character! And the day came to the hall where I saw my friends who were waiting for him with all honors! To See you, dear! Breadcrumbs – on the shield! – wrote Danylo.
The circumstances of the Wiseman’s death are not reported by his nephew. At the same time, the wife of the commander of Azov Redis, Kateryna Prokopenko, shared a message on Instagram stories that the fighter’s heart could not stand it.
“The heart of a soldier who went through hell has stopped. The consequences of captivity and torture. I don’t want to think about what lies ahead, but we will definitely take revenge,” Prokopenko’s note reads.
Photo of Mudrak before and after capture was published by journalist Stanislav Aseev on his Twitter page back in August. After that, the footage of the emaciated soldier went viral on social media as evidence of the inhumane treatment of prisoners by the occupiers.
Oleg Mudrak was captured by the Russians in May 2022 – together with other defenders of Mariupol – defenders of “Azovstal”.
Exchange of prisoners – the fate of the defenders of “Azovstal”
The Russian military captured more than 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers from the Mariupol plant “Azovstal”. On June 29, the first of the planned exchanges of prisoners of war took place, as a result of which 144 defenders returned to Ukraine, including 95 defenders of “Azovstal”.
Since then, defenders of “Azovstal” regularly get on the lists for exchange. The largest exchange of Mariupol defenders took place in September 2022. Then 200 soldiers, including commanders, were exchanged for Putin’s best man Viktor Medvedchuk.
As of January 2023, there were about two thousand Azovstal defenders in Russian captivity. On February 16, Ukraine returned another 100 soldiers and one civilian from captivity. It is indicated that 94 defenders defended Mariupol, and 64 of them fought at “Azovstal”.
