Families of defenders of Mariupol ask Red Cross to demand better conditions from the Russian Federation

OLENA ROSHCHINA — SUNDAY, 5 JUNE 2022, 12:22 PM

 DENYS AND KATERYNA PROKOPENKO, PHOTO FROM THE FAMILY ARCHIVE

 Families of Azovstal fighters want the Red Cross, the UN, and other international organisations to influence Russia to improve the conditions of detention of the Defenders of Mariupol.

Source: wife of the commander of the Mariupol "Azov" Regiment, Denys Prokopenko, Kateryna, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda 

Details: Kateryna Prokopenko said that her husband got in touch with her from an unknown number (obviously, we are talking about 23 May – ed.). "Katia, I only have 30 seconds of conversation, tell me, how are you there?", Denys Prokopenko managed to say, and later the connection was interrupted, and he could not be heard.

Therefore, Kateryna Prokopenko collected information about the situation of the fighters from other sources: from people who are close to Denys. Some people managed to get in touch and said that conditions were satisfactory and everyone was waiting for an exchange.

Quotation: "Now I am trying to communicate with my team, with the Association of the families of the "Azovstal" defenders, with the Red Cross, and with other organisations, so that they will improve the conditions there. 

We know that the pre-trial detention centre itself is overcrowded and, of course, that some resources may be scarce. Again, food, water - it all needs to be improved. 

Now we want to resolve this issue as soon as possible so that the Red Cross uses as many of its connections and resources as possible to improve what the guys there have now."

Details: Prokopenko noted that in addition to Ukraine and Russia, "a third party is involved in the rescue process – these are international organisations that deal with human rights and the rights of prisoners of war, and try to monitor compliance with the Geneva Convention." 

"And now we want this third party to make greater efforts. Because now we see that these efforts are not enough," Kateryna stressed. 

She has information that a third party was with the soldiers only at the beginning of the evacuation, but it is not known whether there are representatives of international organisations currently in the prisoners’ places of detention. 

"We have no report from them, no photos, no video recordings by a third party about the current conditions there. We only have photos and videos from the Russian side. Given these videos, we understand that only the Russian side is present there. And we need an independent third party that will reveal the true conditions," Kateryna said.

Representatives of international organisations are not providing any explanations, and the families of the fighters are trying to establish communication with them.

The Association of the families of the "Azovstal" defenders was created specifically in order to communicate at the official level with a third party, with international organisations.

Kateryna Prokopenko suggested that the Russian side is restricting access by representatives of the "Red Cross" to prisoners, just as it previously rejected the idea of "extracting" the fighters which would have allowed them to leave Azovstal and escape.  

"The last thing it (Russia – Ed.) agreed to was this procedure, whereby our soldiers will be de jure held captive, and where the Russians will be able, let's say, to extract some information from them. We all understand that captivity means interrogation. And all this is beneficial to Russia," said the wife of the commander of the Azov Regiment. 

According to her, the fighters "did everything: they fulfilled their orders, they defended Ukraine to the last – now the authorities must fulfil their promise to save lives."

Background: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations (UN) helped persuade the Russian leadership to safely withdraw Ukrainian soldiers from the Azovstal plant blockaded by the Russians. 

The garrison defending Mariupol received an order from the Ukrainian [supreme military] command to save lives. Their entry into the territory controlled by the Russians took place on 16-20 May. According to the Russians, 2,439 fighters came out from the dungeons of Azovstal. Representatives of the "Red Cross" allegedly registered Ukrainian defenders as prisoners of war.

Denys Prokopenko hinted at an agreement to exchange seriously wounded soldiers from the plant and hand over the bodies of the deceased defenders to their families.