There was an attempt to unblock Azovstal: details of the operation and why it didn’t work out

IRYNA BALACHUK — THURSDAY, 9 JUNE 2022, 11:19

Ukraine had not only planned but also tried to unblock the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, where the Ukrainian fighters had been holding the line for several weeks. But a group of soldiers advancing towards the city faced fierce resistance from the occupiers and was forced to retreat.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda article "The Island of Hope": How Azovstal defenders got out and what is happening with them now

Details: According to Ukrainska Pravda sources, the unblocking of Mariupol was possible in the early stages, but became less realistic every other day.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the top command of the army also shared cautious optimism about the possibility of releasing Azovstal defenders, according to Ukrainska Pravda. 

That is why one attempt to unblock was not only planned, but also implemented. It took place after several weeks of the bloody blockade of Mariupol. Under the general command of the Chief Intelligence Directorate, a group of soldiers went out from the Huliaipole district [Zaporizhzhia region] towards Mariupol, and was supposed to break into the city.

This unit included part of the Chief Intelligence Directorate [defenders], part of the military from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, part of the Azov fighters, including Andrii Biletskyi, the leader of the National Corps.

According to the Ukrainska Pravda interlocutor, at first it was planned that this group would be given more than 80 units of tanks and armoured vehicles, but when it came down to it, they could only get a few tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armoured combat vehicles (up to 20 units).

Despite this, the group still moved towards Mariupol. It travelled about 10-15 km, encountered a furious defence and had to retreat.

The interlocutors of Ukrainska Pravda emphasise that in order to succeed in [Azovstal] unblocking, a simultaneous counter-breakthrough of the Mariupol garrison should have taken place, so as to support the Ukrainian forces. But this became unrealistic after the actions of the 36th Marine Brigade.

On 4 April, one battalion of the 36th Brigade suddenly surrendered, and then suddenly Volodymyr Baraniuk, the commander of the 36th Brigade, without warning anyone, decided to make a breakthrough in an unknown direction and thus lost many people. Also, according to Denys Prokopenko (Redis), Azov commander, many people were abandoned and were simply taken prisoner.

Another Ukrainska Pravda interlocutor close to Azov said that the Marines surrendered with tanks, MLRS and ammunition, and that greatly weakened the [Ukrainian] defence forces.

After that, it became clear that the unblocking is impossible even in one area, using small forces from the unoccupied territory. 

Background: 

• The city of Mariupol has been under the Russian siege since 1 March. Ukrainian troops defending Mariupol, including the Azov Regiment of the National Guard, marines, border guards, and police officers, retreated to Azovstal steel works, where they were besieged from late April. The marines asked for an extraction procedure to be carried out to evacuate Azovstal defenders, while the Azov Regiment called for the evacuation of at least the most severely wounded soldiers.
• On 17 May, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that the soldiers of the Mariupol garrison had completed their combat mission, and unit commanders had been ordered to save the lives of military personnel. On 16 May, the evacuation of seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers to Russian-held territories began. There were to be several other phases of evacuation to evacuate all the remaining soldiers. Formally, they became Russia’s prisoners of war. The Ukrainian government is planning to have them returned via a prisoner exchange procedure.
• On 20 May, the Russian Ministry of Defence said that all Ukrainian soldiers had left Azovstal; it claimed that a total of 2,439 soldiers had left Azovstal bunkers since 16 May and that these soldiers are now considered Russian prisoners of war.
• On 6 June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine confirmed that over 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers from Azovstal are being held by the Russian occupiers. The Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine is working on releasing them.