Denis Prokopenko (Redis), a Ukrainian officer, lieutenant colonel of the National Guard of Ukraine, commander of the Azov special forces brigade, on May 20 published on his social networks a photo taken during negotiations on neutral territory between the Kommunalshchik enterprise and the Azov metallurgical plant.
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We are talking about the events of May 2022, when we were talking about the exit of the “Azovites” from the city and the plant.
Prokopenko recalled that two years ago Azov received an order from the highest military-political leadership of the country to stop the defense of Mariupol and leave the territory of Azovstal as a prisoner.
Prior to this, as a result of a round of difficult negotiations with the Russian side, agreements were reached on the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal plant. Hundreds of people, residents of Mariupol, who found refuge on the territory of the plant, were rescued.
All civilians hiding from enemy bombing at Azovstal remained alive. The last civilian left the plant on May 7, 2022.
After this, the Mariupol garrison continued to hold the defense until the order of the high command.
The defense of Mariupol saved Ukraine. The price of this salvation was the lives of our soldiers who died in urban battles and as a result of the terrorist attack in Yelenovka, and the freedom of hundreds of our brothers who have been in captivity for 2 years. Two years have passed. Two years of resistance by more than 900 servicemen of the 12th special forces brigade “Azov”, who saved Ukraine with their desperate actions, and are now in captivity. Their names are not forgotten. Today, our every battle, every shot and every step has one thing – to return the captured Azov residents home. And until this happens, we will not stop and will not stop fighting. We will bring everyone back. And we will free everyone,” Prokopenko wrote.
Let us recall that in the spring of 2022, the Russian leadership several times in the form of an ultimatum demanded that the defense forces stop resistance, offering access to the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities after the complete surrender of weapons, but the Ukrainian soldiers refused to capitulate, believing that the Russian troops, as always, were Ukrainian defenders.
The Russian occupiers systematically refused to allow people surrounded at Azovstal to leave Mariupol, in particular, according to the Ukrainian side, blocking humanitarian corridors even for civilians. The proposal to transport Ukrainian military personnel to the territory of a third country, which was supported by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was also rejected by the Russian occupiers. It was only in early May that civilians were evacuated.
As of May 16, there were 600 wounded defenders at the Azovstal metallurgical plant, 40 soldiers were in very serious condition.
On May 16-17, the Russian occupiers began a partial “evacuation” of Ukrainian defenders from the plant. 53 (according to other sources, 52 fighters were taken to the territory occupied by the Russians in the city of Novoazovsk, another 211 people were taken to the village of Olenevka.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.