Wives of Azovstal defenders: “Our husbands are preparing for their final stand” 

The Azovstal steel plant is still besieged by the Russian army. The wives of the steelworks defenders gave a press conference on UA:Pershy YouTube channel.

Anna Naumenko, Yekateryna Prokopenko, Yulya Fedosiuk and Olha Andryanova attended the press conference. The transcript was provided by Suspilne Novyny.

The combatants of the Azov regiment “are preparing to make their final stand, they believe they are doomed by now: there are too many wounded and very little drinking water left.”

Mariupol’s main goal today is to divert the attention of the Russian military to help Ukraine liberate Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv. When we say the situation is critical, we mean it. There’s very little antibiotics out there. People suffer pain after surgery for there are almost no anaesthetics as well,” the wives said.

“They spend most of their time in an underground shelter with no Internet, hiding from shells. Only rarely do they resurface in search of food and drinking water. My husband risks being killed by the shells every time he goes upstairs to text me or his mother,” one of the ladies said.

He was severely injured, had most of his teeth missing and his innards damaged. Others were tortured to death. This is why the Azovstal defenders are not going to surrender themselves.”

The wives also said they demand that their husbands be evacuated to a “third country”. They have addressed numerous countries to join their call and offer shelter for the besieged steelworks defenders. The ladies have also thanked Kalush Orchestra for speaking out for the Azovstal after their Eurovision performance, resulting in many Europeans exploring the #SaveAzovstal hashtag on social media.

Petro Andriushchenko, a Mariupol official, accused Russia of shelling the Azovstal steel plant with ‘fire or phosphorus bombs’ earlier today. The usage of phosphorus and cluster shells is banned by the 1949 and 2010 conventions respectively.

Mariupol is a huge city in the south of the Donetsk region on the coast of the Sea of Azov. The city was surrounded in the early days of the war and remained under siege for more than six weeks. The Azovstal steel plant remains Ukraine’s only defencive position in the besieged Mariupol. The Azov Regiment and civilians were hiding there for 70 days. All women, children and older people were rescued from the besieged Azovstal steel plant on 7 May.