Mariupol. The government of Ukraine organizes an extreme rescue operation for soldiers injured in the steel factory
The government of Ukraine is preparing a large-scale operation to evacuate wounded soldiers and the bodies of soldiers killed during the Russian siege from the Azovstal steel factory. Today marks eleven days of continuous attacks on this steel complex, the latest focal point of resistance against the invaders in the strategic port city of Mariupol and a worldwide metaphor for the stubbornness of the Ukrainians to defend their territory. Although all civilians have already been transferred to safe locations, there are still about a thousand fighters in the factory, with more each day becoming a theater of doom and death. The Russian artillery shelling was repeated yesterday morning with mathematical punctuality. Several of the facilities were set on fire last night as the military awaited negotiations from the executive with uncertainty.
It is the intention of the authorities to complete the evacuation in several stages of the soldiers who suffer the most serious injuries as a result of their unbearable suffering due to the lack of medicines, the lack of hygiene and the inability to perform surgical interventions . The Kremlin had not yet approved this plan last night. “We started with a round of discussions about the roadmap. We’ll start with the seriously injured. The Red Cross and the UN have met with the Russians and agreed on a series of negotiations,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereschuk said. The government, which has the mediation of the Turkish authorities, wants the Russians to commit themselves in writing in an effort to prevent the successive disruptions of the ceasefire that caused the failure of some of the humanitarian corridors with civilians. In the latest evacuation of the women and children left as refugees in the factory, three Ukrainian soldiers died and several were injured when rockets launched by the invading forces hit their vehicles.
Vereschuk explained that in Azovstal there are not only the members of the controversial Azov battalion – which Moscow describes as “Nazi” because of its far-right ideology – but also a large number of army officers and soldiers, border guards and agents of the National Police. The Ukrainian ‘Pravda’ paid tribute to all of them in yesterday’s edition, in a series of stories signed by María Golub, the summary of which is included in this newspaper today. “They all need to be saved,” the vice president claimed. The trump card that Kiev is playing to reach an agreement with Russia is the exchange of prisoners. He proposes to the Kremlin to release the Azovstal fighters in exchange for detained Russian soldiers.
The offensive on Mariupol started in February and managed to reduce Ukrainian opposition to the Azovstal factory, which has been under continuous shelling since February 3. Local authorities said earlier this week that the attack has intensified since the last convoy of civilians that managed to evacuate 500 people.
The UN has confirmed the deaths of 3,400 civilians as a result of the invasion, although it admits it is a figure without any sign of reality. He even suspects that only in Mariúpol, a scene of “unimaginable horrors”, there are “thousands of deaths”, according to High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet.
“He loves animals. He will not eat, but he will feed them. Seeing a swift with a broken wing, he called a taxi, took the bird and took it to the vet. Artem Vyshnyak’s family speaks about this 21-year-old soldier locked up in the Azovstal factory for weeks Artem, born in Brovary, on the outskirts of Kiev, joined the Azov battalion three years ago, although his decision had been made since 2014, at the start of the Donbas conflict. “He wants to defend his country,” says his mother, Tatiana. As a teenager, he followed the Revolution of Dignity of Maidan and took part in actions in favor of the unity of Ukraine, whose history is his passion. Is the Russian siege alive now? Tatiana just imagines it. “My son doesn’t like to talk about the war. She knows I’m worried, so she doesn’t say anything terrible. He says he’s willing to give his life for this country. But I’m not ready for that.”
At 24 years old, Mykola is a war veteran. As soon as he came of age, he joined the ranks of the regiment and before that took part in the Maidan protests. As a child, in Dnipropetrovsk, he dreamed of becoming a dog trainer. Today, this staunch defender of Ukraine is considered a hero of the Mariupol resistance, true to his principle that ‘words must match deeds’. His partner, Olga Malyuchenko, manages to talk to him from time to time. “He says there is a lack of qualified care for the injured.” Mykola has seen children while incarcerated who “dreamed of a piece of bread and a sip of water”. «Our heroes – emphasizes Olga – give the last to the citizens. They are ready to resist to the end, but we don’t need posthumous heroes. We need them, alive and with us.”
Kirill Gurov’s life was cut short by the Russian invasion on February 24. Until then, this 32-year-old leather goods manufacturer lived with his wife and two children without major shocks, albeit in the tranquility that comes with being a member of the Azov battalion, to which he has belonged since 2015. of that month, his “second family” called him to put him in “state of alert.” The offensive came four days later. The family moved to Mariupol, but on March 9 after a Russian attack on the hospital where they took refuge, his wife and two children fled to Zaporizhzhya. Kirill stayed with the steel mill. She called her partner to reassure her with a short “everything is under control” until she found out in April that “he was injured. A lot of boys died. I can’t even imagine what my husband is going through when his brothers die. ”
This is a history of love. Bogdam and Natalia met three years ago. They indicated. The war came. He, a former member of the Ukrainian Marine Corps, joined the front. Last April 14, Bogdam’s birthday, Natalia received a letter from him from Azovstal. “I love you more than life. Will you agree to marry me?” I asked. Three days later, we “married,” Natalia recalls. They can only communicate by telephone or through the scant correspondence that escapes the siege. Bogdam calls the attacks on the factory the apocalypse. “He writes that this is not a war, but a murder”, although he is ready to heed the order to “fight to the last drop of blood”, says Natalia, in the hope that they will meet again. “You are already immortal,” he tells him in his last message.
Igor Myzovets is one of the wounded soldiers waiting to be evacuated from the steel mill. It’s very young. He is only 20 years old, but he has seen and felt the carnage of the war. He is about to die twice under the bombs, but he doesn’t know if he will leave the factory alive. Igor from childhood was clear about his military vocation. He graduated from Shatsk Forestry College, then went into the army without telling anyone. His first destination was Lutsk. He immediately requested his transfer to Mariupol. He arrived there on December 13 and two months later he called his parents. “The war had started and he asked if we were calm,” says his mother. He is about to serve in Azovstal for a month. A sniper shattered his leg. “They did not remove the bullet. No X-rays. He says they now have two options: be captured or, God forbid, be shot.”
Stepan Golovko was called to take up arms in Mariupol from the age of 13, when he joined the nationalist organizations of Donetsk, where he lived almost all his life and headed the regional branch of the Ukraine Patriot Party. He fought pro-Russian separatists in Kharkiv during the long military conflict that has bled Donbas since 2014 and is a leading member of the Azov battalion. He has served as the first assistant to Andriy Biletsky, the controversial leader and founder of this unit associated with the far right. Anna, his wife, lover of playing with his young son and fan of football and telling stories about his country, assures that the ‘greatest value’ for Stepan is ‘the freedom and life of people’. It is in Azovstal. I know you have an injury. The situation is critical, but he does not lose his optimism. My son and I believe he will come back alive.”
Source: La Verdad
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