Denys Prokopenko

Denys Hennadiyovych Prokopenko (born 27 June 1991) is a Ukrainian Brigadier general in the National Guard of Ukraine and commander of the 1st Corps of the Ukrainian National Guard "Azov", as well as a prominent participant of the Russo-Ukrainian War, and former commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov". Prokopenko joined the Azov Battalion in July 2014 to fight in the Donbas war against Pro-Russian separatists. After Azov's founder and leader Andriy 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 of major, becoming the youngest commander in the Ukrainian military. In response to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Prokopenko rose as a leader defending Mariupol from the Russian siege, and commanded the Mariupol garrison. For his leadership role on the frontlines of the war, he was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine in March 2022. In July 2023 Prokopenko returned to Ukraine in a prisoner exchange and in August he took command of Azov once again. In April 2025 he was promoted to Colonel and became commander of the 1st Azov Corps, a newly created corps formation with four brigades. In February 2026 Prokopenko was promoted to Brigadier general. Prokopenko is also known as Redis, an old football ultra nickname that became his military call sign. His subordinates are reported to address him informally as "Brother Redis" or "Comrade Redis".