A symbol of the resilience of Ukrainians: one of the defenders of Azovstal showed what the plant looks like after months of war

Ukrainian troops in Mariupol held the defense at the Azovstal metallurgical plant, where there were about a thousand military personnel and civilians. The Russian army bombed and tried to storm this territory every day, reports with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

The fighting at Azovstal in the devastated city of Mariupol became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance during Russia's three-month invasion.

Most of the civilians who had taken refuge in the huge Soviet-era plant were removed from there in early May. On May 16, the Ukrainian military was evacuated from Azovstal to Russian-controlled territories in order to subsequently exchange prisoners of war.

Shortly before the evacuation, Dmitry Kazatsky, call sign Orest, released new footage of life at Azovstal.

"OK it's all over Now. Thank you for the shelter, Azovstal, the place of my death and my life,” military wrote.

In addition, Dmitry Kazatsky asks to distribute the photographs he took while he is in captivity: “By the way, while I am in captivity, I will leave you photos in the best quality, send them to all journalistic awards and photo competitions, if I win something, after the release it will be very nice. Thank you all for your support. See you".

You can see photos of life and death at Azovstal here. Carefully! Images contain open wounds and can traumatize the psyche.

BABYLON'13 has published a video taken by Orest on the last day at the besieged plant.

The warrior, who spent 84 days at Azovstal, removed it the day before the captivity and handed it over to documentary filmmakers.

Everyone needs to see these shots.

Strategic port

From the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military and separatists from the self-proclaimed DPR focused their main efforts on capturing Mariupol. This city with a population of almost half a million is not only an important port on the Azov Sea, it also has important political significance.

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In May-June 2014, during the anti-terrorist operation of Ukrainian forces against the separatists, the Ukrainian army and volunteer battalions managed to recapture the city. Since that time, Mariupol, with its two metallurgical giants (the Ilyich plant and Azovstal) and one engineering giant (Azovmash), lived a peaceful life and developed.

Already at the beginning of March, Russian troops were able to surround Mariupol from all sides and block it from the sea. The defense of the city was held by the Azov forces, the 36th Marine Brigade, as well as border guards, police and members of the Security Service of Ukraine.

Storming Mariupol, the military of the Russian Federation and supporters of the self-proclaimed DPR by mid-April were able to oust Ukrainian forces from almost all centers of resistance, including from the seaport and the plant named after. Ilyich.

At the same time, the offensive led to the almost complete destruction of the city: according to the Ukrainian authorities, as a result of shelling and bombing, about 90% of the buildings were destroyed, and about 20 thousand civilians were killed.

What is Azovstal

Azovstal is a metallurgical giant with almost 100 years of history. It occupies a huge territory on the left bank of the Kalmius River. The complex is located between the river on one side and the shore of the Azov Sea on the other. The plant has its own cargo port and an extensive underground communications system.

The decision to build the enterprise was made in 1930 by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the National Economy of the USSR. The favorable geographical location made it possible to use sea transport to supply iron ore to the plant. In 1931, construction began on the first factory buildings and a seaport. Two years later, Azovstal received the first batch of cast iron.

In the autumn of 1941, when the front line began to approach the city, many technological units were evacuated to the Urals. German troops captured Mariupol on October 8, 1941, and in September 1943, before retreating, the plant was practically destroyed: they blew up the main facilities, in particular, coke batteries, blast furnaces and open-hearth furnaces.

In 1945, production at the plant was resumed. The enterprise actively developed and became one of the leaders in Europe in the production of metallurgical products. In 1996, Azovstal became part of the Metinvest group of companies owned by Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov. Before the Russian invasion, about 10 thousand people worked here, but now the plant is closed.

The total area of ​​the plant is about 11 square kilometers. For comparison, this is almost twice the area of ​​the city of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region or 25 times larger than the Vatican.

The shelling of the plant began in mid-March. Russian representatives said that there could be “biochemical laboratories” on the territory of Azovstal.

The general director of the company, Enver Tskitishvili, calls this nonsense. “All our enterprises in Mariupol were mothballed in the first week of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he said. “The chemical reagents that metallurgists used in the production process were destroyed on February 25, about which there are all the necessary documents... There are no secret tunnels with biochemical laboratories at Azovstal.”

The Ukrainian military and hundreds of civilians decided to take refuge on the territory of the plant: the fact is that Azovstal has a bomb shelter system created back in Soviet times.

Ukrainian marines confirmed that civilians were also hiding from bombs on the territory of the plant along with the military. “Women, children, including newborns, are hiding in our military bunkers. Mostly relatives of our military, whom the Russians are looking for. Without heat, water, food. Our wounded are dying every day in unbearable agony, because medicines, disinfectants, and pain relief options have long since run out,” said Marine commander Major Sergei Volyn on April 18.

It was impossible to release Azovstal by military means

There were protests all over the world to support the Ukrainian military from Azovstal. The winners of Eurovision 2022, the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra, immediately after their performance in the final called for help for Mariupol and the Azovstal plant. The frontman of the group, Oleg Psyuk, made this request from the stage. “I ask all of you. Please help Ukrainian Mariupol! Help Azovstal right now!” - he said in English.

On May 16, Russian media reported that the occupiers agreed with Ukrainian defenders from Azovstal to open a corridor for wounded soldiers in the direction of Novoazovsk (DPR territory), reports UNIAN. More than 260 Ukrainian military personnel, including 53 wounded, were taken from the Azovstal plant and delivered to the territory of the self-proclaimed DPR, reports euronews.

This information was confirmed in Kyiv, but it was clarified that all of them, after receiving medical care, would return home “as part of the exchange procedure.”

At the same time, the number of military personnel remaining at Azovstal is unknown. According to experts, their number can range from several hundred to 1000 people. Russian media put the figure at two thousand.

After the evacuation was completed, the Ukrainian authorities announced that the mission of the Azov fighters, who held the defense of the plant for 82 days, was completed.

In his late-night address, the Ukrainian president thanked the Red Cross and the UN for their assistance in the ceasefire negotiations and the evacuation. Vladimir Zelensky noted that on this difficult day, as always, the authorities were guided by one principle - Ukraine needs heroes alive.

“It’s not an easy day. But this day, like all the others, is aimed at protecting our country and our people. Thanks to the actions of the Ukrainian military - the Armed Forces of Ukraine, intelligence, as well as the negotiating group, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN, we hope that it will be possible to save the lives of our guys. I want to emphasize: Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes alive. This is our principle. I think every reasonable person will understand these words,” Zelensky said.

Subsequently, Azov commander Denis Prokopenko (Radis) stated that “to save lives, the entire Mariupol garrison is implementing the approved decision of the high military command and hopes for the support of the Ukrainian people.”
Prokopenko also stressed that none of the weapons will work without professionally trained military personnel, which makes them the most valuable element of the army.

Wounded soldiers from Azovstal were evacuated to a hospital in occupied Novoazovsk. This was mentioned in the address of Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Malyar.

“Together, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and the Border Service began an operation to rescue the defenders of Mariupol blocked on the territory of the Azovstal plant. On May 16, 53 seriously wounded people were evacuated from Azovstal to a medical facility in Novoazovsk for medical care,” the message said.

“In order to further return them home, an exchange procedure will be carried out. With regard to the defencists who still remain on the territory of Azovstal, rescue measures are being carried out through the joint efforts of the above-mentioned departments,” explained Malyar, adding that it was impossible to release Mariupol by military means, so now the main task is to get our military out of there alive.

According to Malyar, another 211 people were delivered to Olenevka through the humanitarian corridor, and an exchange procedure will be carried out to return them home.

“Rescue measures are being carried out jointly by the above-mentioned departments for the defenders who still remain on the territory of Azovstal,” the deputy minister added.

She stressed that thanks to the defenders of Mariupol, the Ukrainian military received critical time to form reserves, regroup forces and receive assistance from partners.

“The defenders of Mariupol completed all the tasks assigned by the command in full. Unfortunately, we do not have the opportunity to release Azovstal by military means. The most important common task of all of Ukraine and the whole world is to preserve the lives of the defenders of Mariupol,” Malyar emphasized.

And on May 25, it became known that Azov commander Denis Prokopenko “Redis” got in touch with his wife.

The woman claims that the captured soldiers from Azovstal were not subjected to violence by the occupiers.

Katerina Prokopenko was able to hear her husband during a short phone call. “He said he was fine and asked how I was,” the woman said. The connection was cut off before he could tell us more about himself.

It is unknown whether Prokopenko could speak freely. The woman added that she has information from other sources regarding the conditions of detention of captured soldiers. The conditions, she said, are “satisfactory.” The Ukrainians are fed, given water and, at least, the prisoners were not previously subjected to violence.

Katerina emphasized that the governments of Ukraine and Russia coordinated the phone call of her husband thanks to the mediation of the Red Cross. Prokopenko said that most of the wounded soldiers are in the prison of the occupied Yelenovka, a small group of seriously wounded remains in the hospital in the occupied Novoazovsk.

Ekaterina Prokopenko and the wife of another Azov officer, Arseniy Fedosyuk, Yulia, told the AP that agreements between Ukraine and the Russian Federation provide for proper burial of fallen soldiers and certain conditions for prisoners of war, in particular, the ability to call family members. Several families have already received calls from the military over the past two days.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that the defenders of the city prevented the Russian invaders from quickly seizing Zaporozhye and cordoning off the JFO groups, reports ZN. Thanks to the courage and resilience of the Mariupol garrison, 17 enemy battalion groups were held back.

“While holding positions at Azovstal, the Ukrainian defenders did not allow the enemy to transfer a group of 17 battalion tactical groups (about 20000 personnel) to other directions. Thus, they prevented the implementation of the plan for the rapid capture of Zaporozhye, reaching the administrative border of the Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions and creating conditions for encircling the Joint Forces Operation group,” the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.

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The General Staff thanked the separate special forces detachment "Azov", the 12th brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, the 36th separate brigade of marines, border guards, police, volunteers and the terrorist defense of Mariupol. It was thanks to them that the enemy forces suffered significant losses of personnel and were also unable to advance in strategically important directions. This helped the Ukrainian army to regroup and receive the necessary assistance from partners.

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