Advisor to Mariupol Mayor: Russian troops have dropped phosphorous or incendiary bombs on Azovstal steelworks

Olena Roshchina – Sunday, 15 May 2022, 09:33

Petro Andriushchenko, Advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol, has reported that Russian troops have deployed either phosphorous or incendiary ammunition on Ukrainian soldiers defending the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.

Source: Petro Andriushchenko on Telegram

Quote from Andriushchenko: "Mariupol. Azovstal. New attacks: from land, sea, and air.

Yesterday the occupiers deployed incendiary or phosphorous bombs against Mariupol Defenders for the first time (we will let experts determine the exact type of ammunition deployed).

The occupiers claim that they used 9M22C incendiary projectiles. Their burning temperature reaches 2,000-2,500ºC. They are almost impossible to put out.

Details: According to Andriushchenko, this was "hell on earth, at Azovstal."

"It is incredible that our Defenders are still holding up. We owe them a debt we will never be able to repay," he added.

Earlier: On 14 May, Kalush Orchestra, the band representing Ukraine, won the Eurovision song contest. Oleh Psiuk, the band’s frontman, called on the world to help rescue Mariupol and its defenders at Azovstal after the band’s performance in the Eurovision final. Since his appeal, the number of Google searches for Mariupol and Azovstal has increased.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said after Ukraine’s Eurovision victory that, "We will do everything we can to make sure that one day Mariupol will host Eurovision participants and spectators."

Background:

• The city of Mariupol is located in the south of Ukraine, on the coast of the Azov Sea. It has been under Russian siege since 1 March. Ukrainian soldiers defending Mariupol – National Guards, the Azov Regiment, Marines, border guards, and police officers – have been encircled and blockaded by the Russian troops at the Azovstal plant since late April. 
• They are calling on the world to help rescue them: the marines are asking for an extraction procedure to be carried out, and the Azov Regiment soldiers are calling for the evacuation of the wounded soldiers.
• Civilians were evacuated from Azovstal a week ago. Russia continues to oppose all measures that would make the evacuation of Ukrainian soldiers possible, even though Turkey is prepared to evacuate them by sea and to guarantee their non-participation in combat action in Ukraine.

Nearly 600 wounded soldiers remain in Azovstal bunkers without access to medicine and food and in unsanitary conditions. The Ukrainian government is trying to arrange the evacuation of at least 60 most seriously wounded soldiers.