The fate of Ukrainian fighters in Azovstal is more uncertain than ever, two weeks after they voluntarily left the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the city of Mariupol. Their relatives have formed a pressure group to incite the Ukrainian and Russian authorities to carry out an exchange of prisoners of war, while the Russian authorities suggest that some of the combatants, the members of the regiment “Azov”should be judged for “war crimes”.
“I am fighting for my husband to return to Ukraine, I miss him, I love him and I will fight until the end”explains to World Kateryna, the wife of Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov regiment. Together with Yulia Fedisiouk, wife of another fighter from Azovstal, they founded “Women of Steel”with reference to the word “stall”which means ” steel “ in both Ukrainian and Russian. “The association already unites more than 500 wives and mothers of Azovstal fighters. It is for us to fight at the official level for their rapid return. We act as the interface between the Ukrainian authorities, in whom we trust, and the families. We will defend the rights of our heroes and their conditions of detention at the hands of the Russians”, continues Kateryna Prokopenko. According to his information, all Azovstal fighters are detained in the penal colony of Olenivka, which is located in the Donetsk region just 15 km from the front. “The wounded, around 700 fighters, were transferred to a hospital in Novoazovsk. Unfortunately, this hospital is unable to properly treat those who have been seriously injured”laments M.me Prokopenko.
The exact number of Azovstal fighters, who are considered heroes on the Ukrainian side, is kept secret by the kyiv authorities. Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar affirmed on April 30 that her ministry has all the information on the Azovstal fighters. “This information is classified as secret not only because of the negotiation process [avec la partie russe], but also to ensure the safety of these people. These are personal data, and therefore they are not public.said M.me Malyar on Ukrainian public television.
Reversal of the roles of the aggressor and the attacked
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense gave the figure of 2,439 Ukrainian fighters “who made themselves prisoners”, without giving details of the military units. Apart from the regiment “Azov”considered as a “terrorist organization” by Russia, the Azovstal fighters also included marines, border guards, police officers, and volunteers from paramilitary units. Kateryna Prokopenko assures that the figure given by the Russians “is very exaggerated”. British intelligence estimates the number of Azovstal fighters taken prisoner at 1,700.
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