Relatives of Mariupol defenders created a public organisation, but have no information about the fighters
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO — MONDAY, 30 MAY 2022, 17:25
Relatives of the defenders of Mariupol announced the creation of a public organisation – the Council of Wives and Mothers of the Defenders of Ukraine, known as "Women of Steel".
Source: relatives of the defenders of Mariupol at a briefing at the Ukraine Media Centre Ukrinform, reports Ukrinform
Quote from Natalka Zarytska, the wife of a soldier in the Azov Regiment: "Today we announce the creation of the Council of Wives and Mothers of the Defenders of Ukraine, "Women of Steel". This council will serve as a mediator between the relatives and the authorities. It will be a powerful public force and a ray of light in preserving human values."
Details: Zarytska emphasised that the relatives need full information about the Ukrainian prisoners and the conditions of their detention, and they need to fight for the prisoners’ return home.
Relatives of military personnel who were evacuated from the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol said at a briefing that for the moment, they don't know anything about them, and there is no way to contact them.
Sandra Krotevych, the sister of the chief of the staff and first deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, Major Bohdan Krotevych, said: "I want to appeal to both Ukrainian and foreign media so that you do not remain silent. All this evacuation is not a return home, the guys are not at home. We don't know where they are, how they are, and in what conditions they are being kept."
"The last contact with my brother was on the day when they were taken out of the Azovstal plant. The last time he wrote to me was at 5 am, and said that from the afternoon there may be no more connection. And indeed, there was no further communication with me and, as far as I know, there was no communication with others either," Krotevych said.
She was supported by all the relatives present of the soldiers from the Azovstal plant who had defended Mariupol.
Natalka Zarytska said that her husband last contacted her on 17 May and that there has been no contact with him since.
"My husband last called me on 17 May. We don’t know how he is, where he is, whether he is alive, whether he has been tortured, whether he is being tortured… For almost two weeks I have not received any information from him," she said.
"I received a call from the Red Cross about 4-5 days ago and was informed that they had simply recorded the fact of his departure from the Azovstal plant, but they did not provide me with any answers to all my questions – whether he was alive, or in what condition," Zarytska said.
Earlier: After leaving the Azovstal plant, the commander of the Azov Regiment, Denys Prokopenko, called his wife Kateryna, who received information that the Russians are holding Ukrainian soldiers in satisfactory conditions.
Background:
- Mariupol was blockaded by Russian troops on 1 March. The defenders of Mariupol were holed up at the Azovstal plant from the end of April. Civilians were evacuated in early May, but Russia long rejected all options for the evacuation of the fighters.
- On 16 May, the Russians stated that they had reached an agreement with the Ukrainian defenders on the removal of wounded soldiers to Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine.
- On the night of 17 May, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the "Mariupol garrison" has completed a combat mission and that the commanders are now given the order to save the lives of personnel.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the defenders of Mariupol must be released under the exchange procedure and returned home. In Russia, they haven't ruled out an exchange, but some of the invaders want to put them on trial.
- On 20 May, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that all fighters from the Azovstal plant had been evacuated and that since 16 May, 2,439 people, whom the Russians consider prisoners of war, have left the bunkers.