Denys Prokopenko | |
|---|---|
Денис Прокопенко | |
.jpg) Prokopenko in 2022 | |
| Commander of1st Azov Corps | |
| Assumed office 7 April 2025 | |
| Commander ofAzov Brigade | |
| In office 17 July 2023 – 7 April 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Mykyta Nadtochiy |
| Succeeded by | Bohdan Hrishenkov |
| In office September 2017 – 29 May 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Maksym Zhorin |
| Succeeded by | Anatoliy Sidorenko |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1991-06-20)20 June 1991 (age 34) |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Spouse | Kateryna Prokopenko |
| Alma mater | Kyiv National Linguistic University National Defence University of Ukraine |
| Nickname | Ре́діс (Redis) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Ukraine |
| Branch/service |  National Guard of Ukraine |
| Years of service | 2014–present |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Commands |  Azov Brigade (2017–2025) 1st Azov Corps (2025–present) |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | |
Denys Hennadiyovych Prokopenko[a][b] (born 27 June 1991) is a Ukrainian military officer who is acolonel in theNational Guard of Ukraine and commander of the1st Corps of the Ukrainian National Guard "Azov",[1] as well as a prominent participant of theRusso-Ukrainian War,[2] and former commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov".[3][4]
Prokopenko joined theAzov Battalion in July 2014 to fight in theDonbas war againstPro-Russian separatists. After Azov's founder and leaderAndriy Biletsky left the unit to focus on politics, Prokopenko eventually arose to the leadership of the Azov Regiment in 2017 and was promoted to the rank ofmajor, becoming the youngest commander in the Ukrainian military.[2] In response to the full-scaleRussian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Prokopenko rose as a leader defendingMariupol from theRussian siege, and commanded the Mariupol garrison. For his leadership role on the frontlines of the war, he was awarded the titleHero of Ukraine in March 2022.[5][6] On July 2023 Prokopenko returned to Ukraine in aprisoner exchange[7] and in August he took command of Azov once again.[8] In April 2025 he was promoted toColonel became commander of the1st Azov Corps, a newly-createdcorps formation with four brigades.[1]
Prokopenko is also known asRedis,[c] an oldfootball ultra nickname that became hismilitary call sign. His subordinates are reported to address him informally as "Brother Redis" or "Comrade Redis".[d][2][9]
Since childhood, he has been involved in sports, notably football and martial arts. Together with his wife, he also been involved in skiing, claiming a personal record is 91 km/h.[10] Before the start of theRussian-Ukrainian war, he was an active fan and ultra-supporter of the Kyiv football clubDynamo.[10] He was a member of the far-rightWhite Boys Clubfootballfan (known as "ultras") organization of thefootball clubDynamo Kyiv.[11][12]
He graduated from the Department ofGermanic Philology atKyiv National Linguistic University, where he earned a degree with a specialty inteaching English.[2]
In 2020, he entered theNational Defense University of Ukraine (Command and Staff Institute for the Use of Troops), specializing in Combat Use and Control of Military Units of Mechanized and Tank Troops.[13]
From 11 July 2014 Prokopenko has participated in thewar in Donbas, initially as an enlisted soldier and then as leader of aplatoon and acompany. In a July 2016 interview he described improvements in the military capabilities of his troops: “Although we lost a lot of experienced guys from the old squad, we've grown in quantity and quality. Discipline and combat efficiency have improved. We used to run with bobby pistols andsawn-off shots; now we have opportunities to work with tacticaltank groups,armored vehicles,artillery support. We gradually developed ourmilitary science doctrine—starting with practice, not theory. In the course of training and fighting, the lads masteredtactics andsmall arms proficiency. Many new possibilities opened for us: we can operate independently on the frontlines, free of other subunits that constantly let us down in combat operations.”[9][14] In September 2017 he was promoted to the rank ofmajor and given control of theAzov Regiment, becoming the youngest commander in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[15][2]
Following the full-scaleRussian invasion of Ukraine, Prokopenko recorded a video message on 7 March 2022 in which he called forclosing the skies over Ukraine to help averthumanitarian collapse inMariupol, since “the enemy isbreaking the rules of the war byshelling the civilian people and destroying theinfrastructure of the city; the enemy is subjecting Mariupol to anothergenocide.”[16][17]
On 19 March 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded the titleHero of Ukraine to the commanders of two units that led the defense of Mariupol: Prokopenko and the commander of the36th Separate Marine Brigade,ColonelVolodymyr Baranyuk.Major Denis Prokopenko received the highest honor “for bravery, for effective tactics to repel enemy attacks, and for protection of the hero city of Mariupol.”[6][11]
On 12 April 2022, Prokopenko appeared in a video message, to report on charges thatRussian chemical weapons had been dropped onto Mariupol in adrone attack: “Yesterday the occupiers used a poisonous substance of unknown origin against military and civilians in Mariupol. The epicenter of the attack was not near the people, so contact with the substance was minimal, which possibly saved lives—but there are still consequences. Currently it's impossible to find out what substance poisoned people, because we are under complete blockade, and the site of the attack is under fire by the Russians to hide evidence of their crime.” Regardless of the sudden international focus on thechemical attack, he went on to claim that thousands of civilians in the city had been killed and continued to be slaughtered by constant ongoing Russianairstrikes,naval bombardment, heavyflamethrower systems,artillery, andphosphorus munitions.[18][non-primary source needed] On 13 April 2022, it was confirmed by the official Twitter account of the Azov regiment that Prokopenko was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.[19]
On 11 May 2022, Pope Francis met in the Vatican with the wives of Azov Regiment soldiersKateryna Prokopenko andYulia Fedosiuk.[20][21][22][23][24] On 16 May 2022, a social media post was released by Prokopenko stating: "In order to save lives, the entire Mariupol garrison is implementing the approved decision of the Supreme Military Command and hopes for the support of the Ukrainian people." This statement follows Russia's decision to "evacuate" wounded Ukrainian soldiers from theAzovstal plant and for them to be taken to theDPR-controlled town ofNovoazovsk for treatment.[25]
On 20 May 2022, he surrendered to the Russian military along with the last defenders of the Azovstal plant, after stating in a final video message on Telegram: "The higher military command has given the order to save the lives of the soldiers of our garrison and to stop defending the city." Since theRussian Duma was attempting to classify Azov as a terrorist organization, the question of whether Russia considered Prokopenko as a prisoner of war (POW) remained in doubt.[26][27] On 24 May, his wife Kateryna confirmed that he was in Russian captivity and that she had been able to talk to him on the phone.[28]
On 21 September 2022, Prokopenko was released in a prisoner swap.[29] Under the agreement, Prokopenko and four other top Ukrainian commanders from the Azovstal siege were required to stay inTurkey until the end of the war.[30]
In a May 2023 interview, Kateryna Prokopenko gave details of her husband's stay in Turkey: "They are at a closed security facility. Even we do not know where exactly. They are not at a resort or sea. They have a certain regime, regulated calls, a schedule. They are not being tortured like in Russia, but, nevertheless, they are not completely free." She said that while she was grateful for the deal that got Denys out of Russian captivity, she expressed hope that he would return to Ukraine soon.[31]
On 8 July 2023, Ukrainian presidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Azov commanders had been brought back to Ukraine from Turkey, posting a video of five Azov commanders boarding his plane, including Prokopenko.[7] On 17 July, in a press release by Azov, Prokopenko announced he would resume his military service, and return to command of the Azov Brigade.[32]
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On 4 August 2023, Prokopenko took part in tactical exercises of the personnel.[33] On 23 August 2023, Azov's press service published a photo of "Redis" at the command post on the front line holding a flag on the occasion of a national holiday. Since August 2023, the Azov brigade under the command of Prokopenko has been performing combat missions in the Lyman direction in the area of theSerebryansky forest.[34] In the first weeks, the unit managed to advance Ukrainian positions with minimal losses.[8]
In April 2025 Prokopenko was promoted toColonel and given command of the1st Corps of the Ukrainian National Guard "Azov", acorps which includes theAzov Brigade along with four other National Guard brigades (1st Presidential Operational Brigade,14th Chervona Kalyna Brigade,15th Operational Brigade and the 20th Operational Brigade "Lyubart"). This move is part of a broader military reform within Ukraine, aiming to enhance the structure and operational effectiveness of its armed forces.[35]
On July 30, 2024, theCommunist Party of Bohemia and Moravia MEP and noted pro-PutinRussophileKateřina Konečná described Prokopenko as "a neo-Nazi and football hooligan of Dynamo Kyiv" when she complained toJan Lipavský, the Czech Foreign Affairs Minister, about a visit to Prague by the3rd Assault Brigade and former Azov soldiers.[36][37]
Journalist and critic of the Azov Battalion Lev Golinkin wrote forThe Nation, arguing that Prokopenko "came out of the White Boys Club", a right-wing group ofDynamo Kyiv fans whose Facebook posts Golinkin said included praise for Holocaust perpetrators and Waffen-SS insignia. Golinkin also claimed that during Prokopenko's time in Azov, his platoon was nicknamed "Borodach Division", and the platoon's insignia was the SSTotenkopf, a popular neo-Nazi symbol.[38][39] Anatoly Grablevsky ofThe Spectator has written that "in spite of appearing to like the aesthetics, Prokopenko has denied that he or the men serving under him have far-right sympathies."[40] British pollster and former Conservative politicianMichael Ashcroft has defended Prokopenko against charges of far-right sympathies, describing the allegations as Russian propaganda and describing Prokopenko as "one of the most legendary figures of the 21st century."[41]
Denys Prokopenko is a descendant of ethnicKarelians. Prokopenko today considers his fight to defend Ukraine againstRussian imperialism fromMoscow a personal matter, closely intertwined with his own family history:[2]
"It feels like I continued the same war, only on another section of the front, a war against the occupation regime of theKremlin. My grandfather had such a terrible hatred forcommunism, forBolshevism, for theSovok... Can you imagine what it's like to lose your family? I mean, all his brothers perished, his kinfolk...".
He is married toKateryna Prokopenko.[42]
In October 2022, he was included in the list of the 25 most influential Ukrainian servicemen by NV.[44] In November 2023, he was included in the list of leaders of Ukraine by UP-100.[45]
До речі, Денис — потомок етнічного карела, який чудом уцілів у Зимовій війні 1939-1940 рр., тому для нього захист України — справа особиста: «Таке відчуття, що я продовжив ту саму війну, але на іншій ділянці фронту, війну проти окупаційного режиму Кремля. У мого діда була така жахлива ненависть до комунізму, до більшовизму, до Совка… Уявляєш, що таке втратити свою родину? Тобто, всі його брати загинули, рідня…»[By the way, Denis is a descendant of an ethnic Karelian who miraculously survived the Winter War of 1939-1940, so for him the defense of Ukraine is a personal matter: "It feels like I continued the same war, only on another section of the front, a war against the occupation regime of the Kremlin. My grandfather had such a terrible hatred for communism, for Bolshevism, for the Sovok... Can you imagine what it's like to lose your family? I mean, all his brothers perished, his kinfolk..."]
Prokopenko, for his part, came out of the White Boys Club, superfans of the Dynamo Kyiv soccer team (far-right groups organized around soccer teams are common across Europe), who celebrated him when he was given an award in October 2022. The group's Facebook posts have typically included phrases like "100% White" and "88" (code for "Heil Hitler"), praise for Holocaust perpetrators, and Waffen-SS insignia.
{{cite magazine}}:Cite magazine requires|magazine= (help)Mariupol in theRusso-Ukrainian war | |
|---|---|
| War in Donbas(2014–2022) | |
| Siege of Mariupol(2022) | |
| Russian people | |
| Ukrainian people | |
| Pro-Ukrainian volunteers | |
