Ukrainian forces entrenched in the Azovstal factory declare to continue fighting

Forces Ukraine entrenched at the Azovstal steel plant in the Black Sea port city of Mariupol has no plans to surrender, RT reported, quoting fighters from the Azov battalion telling journalists on May 8 during a video press conference.

“We will continue to fight as long as we live,” said Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov battalion. Meanwhile, Samoylenko said that “evacuating” Ukrainian forces from the steel plant was the only way to survive, and asked Kiev to take “decisive steps” to facilitate this.

Samoylenko – described by the media as an Azov fighter and military intelligence officer – said that the entrenched forces at the plant were ready to receive support from “any country”, except Russia. and allies. Earlier, a commander of the Ukrainian marines entrenched at the Azovstal plant asked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for help.

Samoylenko admitted that the militants hiding at the factory had “used all the necessary resources for an effective defense”. Ukrainian forces still have food, water and weapons, but their resources are “limited”.

Meanwhile, Palamar criticized Ukrainian politicians, who hailed earlier efforts to evacuate civilians from the factory as a “success”.

“Have all the civilians been evacuated? We cannot say for sure because no international organizations, no Ukrainian politicians have come to the factory…” – Deputy commander of the Azov battalion said. This person blamed Kiev for abandoning Mariupol and not evacuating the residents, who remained trapped in the city during the fighting.

A day earlier, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereschuk announced that all women, children and elderly civilians trapped in the Azovstal factory in Mariupol had been evacuated. At the time, the United Nations said 500 people had been evacuate from Azovstal on the night of May 5 to May 6.

Earlier, Russia accused Ukrainian soldiers and the notorious Azov battalion of holding civilians in steel mills in exchange for supplies. A video published by the German magazine Der Spiegel and later deleted shows one evacuee saying they had been held “in a bunker” under Azovstal for two months and banned by Azov fighters from using their devices. humanitarian corridor established by Russia.

Samoylenko also accused Kiev authorities of “failing to protect Mariupol; unprepared for Mariupol’s defense,” adding that they received “no support” during the two-and-a-half-month siege. “We left it to our own fate,” added Samoylenko.

On May 8, the commander of Ukraine’s 36th Naval Infantry Brigade, Colonel Vladimir Baranyuk – who was captured by Russian forces – told RT that Kiev had “lied” to troops besieged in Mariupol.

Colonel Vladimir Baranyukj said that Ukrainian officials had told soldiers in the city that they were helping, but in reality there was no real attempt to break the blockade.

Azovstal, the massive Soviet-built factory that spans 11 square kilometers, remains the last resistance in Mariupol, a city already controlled by Russian troops and militias from the Donbass republics. Army Russia repeatedly demanded that those entrenched at the factory surrender. The request has so far been denied. Instead, Ukrainian forces at the plant called on Kiev and “third countries” to facilitate their “evacuation.”