Among

who were recently exchanged, there were many famous names.

Which became symbols of "Azovstal", symbols of Mariupol and personal enemies of Vladimir Putin.  

In an interview with

, military and political commentator Oleksandr Kovalenko explained why the Kremlin dictator agreed to this exchange and what levers of influence Ukraine still has.

"Azov" is exactly the unit that is a bone in the throat of the Russian regime.

Because this unit actually blocked a huge number of Russian occupation troops for quite a long time.

They neutralized the potential of Russian units that were directed to Mariupol and blocked their advance in other directions.

It was Mariupol that became the fortress in whose borders a large amount of Russian potential was destroyed, which was expected to be used on the right bank of the Dnieper as well.

These people are personal enemies of Vladimir Putin," he said.

According to him,

.

It is also important that among the captured Russians there is a large number of officers of the lower, middle and higher ranks. 

Also

"Although Russia has announced mobilization for war against Ukraine, they really don't have that many professional soldiers left. They lack unit commanders, middle-ranking officers, they don't have professional pilots of front-line bombers, or attack helicopters, even for multi-purpose helicopters, intended for the transportation of goods. And we have them - Russians in captivity. Russia is interested in their return, so we have more leverage to put pressure on them regarding the exchange process," Kovalenko summarized.

We will remind,

Read also:

• Mariupol's medical defender, who was recently released from captivity in the Russian Federation, gave birth to her first child

• Preparations for the next exchange of prisoners are underway - a spokesman for military intelligence

• Russian billionaire Abramovich-Podolyak participated in the exchange of captured defenders of "Azovstal"