The defenders of Mariupol who returned from Russian captivity at a press conference on August 22 spoke about the crimes of the invaders. They noted that they knew about the support from the state when they were at the Azovstal plant.
According to Vladislav Zhavoronok (callsign “Wikipedia”), information reached those blocked at Azovstal that representatives of the high command communicated with the leadership of the Mariupol garrison. The military knew about the attempts to deblockade.
“They tried to help us as much as possible. We heard about attempts by other special forces units to bring us some help. Medicines and ammunition. We were very pleased understand that we are not ourselves,” said the defender. >Vladislav noted that, unfortunately, the help that they tried to provide was not enough. The military explained, first of all, it was because Mariupol was a fundamentally important point on the map for the enemy. The occupiers have attracted a large amount of air defense.
Bayraktors did not reach us. A lot of drones and the lives of people who tried to fulfill the tasks of the high command were lost. There I assessed these efforts positively, and now, when I found out at what price, I evaluate them as positively as possible,” Vladislav said.
Evacuation from ” Azovstal”
The operation to rescue the defenders who were in the blocked Azovstal plant began on May 16. Then 53 seriously wounded were evacuated, and another 211 people were taken through the corridor to Olenevka. Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar stressed that this is the only chance to save lives.
“Holding positions at Azovstal, they did not allow the enemy to transfer a group of up to 17 battalion tactical groups to other directions. Thus, they prevented the implementation of the plan for the rapid capture of Zaporozhye, reaching the administrative border of the Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions and creating conditions for the encirclement of the JFO group, “the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted.
