Ukraine's high-profile Azov Brigade, many of them former PoWs, has been rebuilt and is fighting in the forests of Donetsk

• Ukraine's battle-hardened Azov Brigade has been rebuilt and is fighting in the forests of Donetsk.
• Russia took many of its soldiers captive during the Mariupol battle last year.
• Videos show them fighting Russian positions from their trenches in the Serebryansky forest.

Ukraine says that its battle-hardened Azov Brigade has returned to the front lines in Ukraine and is fighting in the woods of Donetsk.

The men can be seen fighting from their trenches in the Serebryansky forest in a video recently published by United24, a Ukrainian government-run platform.

The forest, near the Russian-occupied town of Kreminna, has been the center of some of the war's fiercest fighting as Russia continually carried out assaults.

Videos circulated on social media appeared to show Azov attacking Russian positions in the forest.

The Azov Brigade was formed as the Azov Battalion in 2014, composed of volunteers who came together to fight pro-Russian forces in the war in Donbas.

They were based in Mariupol and played a significant role in defending the city from Russia's invasion in 2022, becoming a symbol of resistance.

Azov ultimately withdrew to the Azovstal steel plant, and thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians hid within its walls for weeks as Russia bombarded it.

Prisoners of war

Many Azov fighters were captured during the battle of Mariupol, and Russia later released some.

Among those was a major who goes by the call sign Lemko and is the 1st Special Purposes Battalion commander.

A veteran of the battle of Mariupol, upon his release from Russian captivity, he sprang back into action and took up arms to rebuild the brigade, according to the United24 video. Other officers in the rebuilt formation were PoWs, and veterans make up its backbone, it said.

Azov claims in the video that about 700 of their fighters have now been in captivity for over 500 days.

The unit has previously drawn controversy over its alleged links to neo-Nazi symbolism and ideology, but some argue say it has evolved and left behind its more extreme roots, becoming a crucial part of the Ukrainian army.

The group often features heavily in Russian propaganda, as the soldiers tell a journalist in the United24 video, and have been classed as a terrorist organization by Russia since 2022.

One soldier with the call sign Marlboro explained what he believed it takes to become an Azov fighter. "You have to be motivated to defend your homeland," he said, " That's the most important thing, and you've got to have balls."