Activist group appeals to the world to save Mariupol defenders

Roman Petrenko – Saturday, 7 May 2022, 12:12

The activist group "1 December" appealed to Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey and Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, and the Federal Council of Switzerland to help in saving Ukrainian military and civilians from Mariupol and the ongoing siege of the Azovstal plant.

Source: appeal published on the "1 December" website

Quote from the appeal: "We are Ukrainian scientists, human rights activists, former dissidents who lived through the totalitarian system, and we appeal to you, politicians who can help Ukraine and its heroes.

The Ukrainian garrison in Mariupol is encircled by a disproportionate number of Russian troops.

For over 70 days the military and civilians who would not have survived under the [Russian] occupation have remained in the bunkers of the Azovstal plant. With no access to water, food, medicine. The military cannot replenish their ammunition supplies. They are bombarded from air, sea, and land. Fighting never stops.

The battle for Mariupol is the Ukrainian Thermopylae.

But we live in the humane 21st century and it is our duty, the duty of the entire civilised world, to save the 300 Spartans of Ukraine.

The history of world wars abounds with examples of adversaries demonstrating good will and allowing the military to leave encirclement.

We urge you, respected Sirs, to become third-party facilitators of the extraction procedure.

History will not forget your efforts. Ukrainian people will be forever grateful to you.

The Ukrainian garrison in Mariupol can still be saved. But time is running out."

Background: Extraction is the process of removing people when it is considered imperative that they be immediately relocated out of a hostile environment and taken to an area controlled by friendly forces.

Earlier: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that influential states were involved in the rescuing of military personnel from Azovstal.