It has been 2 weeks with the defenders of Mariupol/Ukraine media center
Relatives of the defenders of Mariupol have not been in contact with them for 2 weeks. They do not know what condition the fighters are in.
There has been no connection since the defenders were taken out of Azovstal. Relatives told about this at a briefing, Channel 24 reports.
The Geneva Convention states that there must be communication
The wife of a fighter, Natalya Zaritskaya, said that she last spoke with her husband on May 17. After that, she did not receive any news from him: neither by mail, nor by phone.
She added that the Geneva Convention clearly states that relatives must communicate with those who are in captivity or under the control of the enemy. However, the woman noted that she received a phone call from the Red Cross. They said that they recorded the fact of his exit from the Azovstal plant.
However, Zaritskaya did not receive an answer to other questions. In particular, whether the man is alive, what condition he is in and where he is. The woman noted that during the war it was their duty to be a bridge between relatives and captives.
Evacuation from Azovstal: what you need to know
- The procedure for the evacuation of the defenders of Mariupol from Azovstal began on May 16. The soldiers were ordered to stop the defense of Mariupol and do everything to save their lives.
- First, 53 seriously wounded soldiers were evacuated to a hospital in the temporarily occupied Novoazovsk, and another 211 Ukrainian soldiers were taken by a humanitarian corridor to Yelenovka.
- Subsequently, other fighters were evacuated. According to British intelligence, a total of about 1,700 soldiers left Azovstal.
- Further, the entire Mariupol garrison should be exchanged for Russian prisoners. This was assured by both the Ministry of Defense and President Volodymyr Zelensky. They are working on it.
- Ekaterina, Denis Prokopenko's wife, said that she spoke with her husband after the evacuation. He said that the fighters were being held in more or less normal conditions.
- The Red Cross reported that it would not publicly publish information about Ukrainian defenders evacuated from Azovstal. And families of soldiers will be able to send a request for information.
