The plant’s massive subterranean network of bunkers, which can resist attacks, is home to an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian defenders and 1,000 civilians.
Two Ukrainian women whose husbands are defending a besieged steel mill in Mariupol, in the south, are demanding that any evacuation of civilians include military, claiming that if the troops are left behind and seized by Russian forces, they would be tortured and killed.
“Soldiers’ lives are also important. Yuliia Fedusiuk, 29, the wife of Arseniy Fedusiuk, a soldier of the Azov Regiment in Mariupol, stated, “We can’t only talk about civilians.” “We’re trying to save all of the soldiers, not just the ones who are dead or injured.”
She and Kateryna Prokopenko, whose husband, Denys Prokopenko, is the Azov commander, made their appeal for international help to evacuate the Azovstal facility, the final stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the strategically important but now bombed-out port city, in Rome on Friday.
The plant’s massive subterranean network of bunkers, which can resist attacks, is home to an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian defenders and 1,000 civilians. However, after Russian forces launched “bunker busters” and other explosives in recent days, the situation has worsened, with food, water, and medication running short.
During a meeting this week in Moscow, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to arrange evacuations from the facility, with the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross engaged, according to the UN. However, as reported by the United Nations, the conversations were about civilians, not fighters.
Prokopenko, 27, spoke in English and appealed for a Dunkirk-style rescue expedition, referring to the World War II naval operation that rescued British and Allied troops encircled by German forces in northern France.
“We can carry out this evacuation operation… and save our soldiers, civilians, and children,” she stated. “We have to do this right now because people are dying every hour, every second.”
According to the ladies, 600 servicemen have been injured, with some suffering from gangrene. They supplied graphic films and images of guys with severed limbs, gunshot wounds, and other ailments given by their spouses. People are claimed to be eating oatmeal, aged cheese, and stale bread.
The Azov Regiment has its origins in the Azov Battalion, which was created in 2014 by far-right activists at the outset of the conflict in Ukraine’s east with Moscow-backed separatists, and has been criticised for its methods.
Fedusiuk and Prokopenko said they were seeking assistance from Europe, the US, and international organisations in order to find a diplomatic solution to the Azovstal conflict.
She also stated that the troops would never submit to Russian captivity.
“We don’t know of any Azov soldier who has survived Russian forces since 2014,” Fedusiuk added. “They will be tortured and executed.” “We’re well aware of it, so it’s not an option for them.”
