Call for help from Mariupol
Wives plead for evacuation of soldiers
04/30/2022, 16:01
Thousands of Ukrainian fighters and civilians are said to be in the heavily shelled steel plant in Mariupol. Two wives of Azov soldiers insist on a quick rescue operation – also for the fighters. Because if they get into Russian captivity, “they will be tortured and killed”.
Two Ukrainian women whose husbands are defending the besieged Azovstal Steelworks in Mariupol are urging international help. They insist that the soldiers are also included in the evacuation of the civilian population. They fear the soldiers will be tortured and killed if they stay behind and are captured by Russian forces. “The lives of soldiers are also important. We cannot only talk about civilians,” said Yulia Fedusiuk, the wife of Azov militant Arseniy Fedusiuk, the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
“We hope that we can also save soldiers, not just the dead, not just the injured, but all of them,” said the 29-year-old. Kateryna Prokopenko, whose husband Denys Prokopenko is the commander of the Azov regiment, also called for a speedy rescue operation. “We have to do this immediately because people are dying – every hour, every second.” According to the two Ukrainians, who shared videos and photos of men with amputated limbs, gunshot wounds and other injuries, 600 of the soldiers are wounded, some suffering from gangrene. People would subsist on porridge, old cheese and bread.
The Azov Regiment, named after the region of origin on the Azov Sea, was formed by nationalist politicians in 2014. It emerged as one of several volunteer militias then fighting alongside Ukrainian forces against pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country. In October 2014, the group was finally integrated into the Ukrainian Homeland Security and remained militarily active under the orders of the Interior Ministry, especially in and around Mariupol.
During the Ukraine war, Mariupol was fiercely fought over, and the Azov steelworks in particular was the target of Russian attacks. According to Russian information, around 2,500 Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries are said to have holed up in the bunkers of the industrial zone. According to Ukraine, 1,000 civilians, including children, are waiting there to be rescued. Mediated by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Kyiv and Moscow had agreed to set up a humanitarian corridor for civilians to flee. However, the results are a long time coming.
The two Ukrainian women asked for help from Europe, the US and international organizations to find a diplomatic solution. Azov troops would never surrender to the Russians, Fedusiuk told the AP. “We don’t know of a single Azov soldier who came back alive from Russian soldiers in 2014, so they are being tortured and killed,” she said. “We definitely know that, so it’s not an option for them.”