On August 17, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky awarded the Colonel of the National Guard Denys (with a callsign “Redis”) Prokopenko with the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, the II degree.
The corresponding decree was published on the website of the Office of the President. In addition to Prokopenko, a number of other fighters were awarded various state awards.
In 2022, “Azov” defended Mariupol under the command of Prokopenko. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded him the title of Hero of Ukraine on March 19, 2022, during the defense of the city.
The entire garrison blocked at “Azovstal”, along with Prokopenko, surrendered to Russian captivity on May 20, 2022, by order of the high command.
Prokopenko was exchanged on September 21, 2022. That day, 215 defenders of Mariupol were returned from Russian captivity — they were exchanged for Viktor Medvedchuk. During that exchange, the “Azov” commanders were interned in Turkey, where they were to remain until the end of the war, by agreement with the Turkish president.
Volodymyr Zelensky reported on July 8 that Denys Prokopenko (commander of “Azov”), Svyatoslav Palamar (deputy commander of “Azov”), Serhii Volynskyi (commander of the 36th Marine Brigade), Oleh Khomenko (senior officer of Azov), and Denys Shleha (commander of the 12th National Guard Brigade) are returning to Ukraine from Turkey.
Later, Prokopenko returned to the front. On April 15, 2025, the National Guard of Ukraine, based on the 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov" created the 1st Corps "Azov", led by Colonel Denys "Redis" Prokopenko.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.