- Fighter is one of the forces holed up in steel mills
- Russia is conducting a “medieval siege,” he says
- UN could be guarantor for civilian evacuations, he says
Kyiv, April 28 – A Ukrainian soldier hiding at a steel mill in Mariupol said his forces would fight for as long as necessary and he urged world leaders to find a way, civilians and to rescue the hundreds of troops trapped in Russia. medieval” siege.
Captain Sviatoslav Palamar, 39, a deputy commander of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, spoke in an interview with Reuters from the steel mill, which is the last redoubt for the port city’s defenders.
Russian forces have reduced large parts of Mariupol to rubble around the vast complex and its underground catacombs, where Palamar and a Ukrainian contingent are engaged in a final stand.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who claimed control of the city last week, said the facility should be sealed off so “no fly” could escape.
“As long as we’re here and holding the defenses…they don’t own the city,” Palamar said.
He said heavy fighting was still raging and they were constantly being bombed. At one point, Russian forces sent in a column of tanks and armored vehicles and infantry, but the defenders destroyed them. He said tactics were constantly changing.
“The tactic is (now) like a medieval siege. We’re surrounded, they don’t throw many forces anymore to break through our line of defense. They’re conducting airstrikes,” he said.
Palamar, who is married with one child, refused to give details of the operations because they could help the enemy. He wouldn’t say how much food and ammo they had left, but that they still had hundreds of fighters.
“Of course, our resources aren’t infinite and they’re getting less with every day of intense battles. The situation is difficult but we will fight and fight as long as we have to.”
He said they had more than 500 wounded fighters, some in serious condition.
“We don’t have the conditions to treat them to do really difficult operations. Running out of medication, bandages, food and water.”
The capture of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov in the south of the industrial Donbass region is crucial to Russian efforts to secure a land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, which it captured from Ukraine in 2014.
Palamar, who is from the western city of Lviv but has lived in Mariupol since 2014, couldn’t say how many civilians were at the steel mill but said it was in the hundreds. They sheltered themselves from the soldiers in various bunkers, he said.
Azov Regiment Deputy Commander Svyatoslav Palamar makes a video statement in this screenshot from a handout video uploaded April 24, 2022 as Russia continues to invade Ukraine, in Mariupol, Ukraine. Azov/Handout via REUTERS
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Azovstal Plant in Mariupol, one of the largest metallurgical works in Europe, is a huge industrial complex with underground chambers and tunnels.
“We bring them (civilians) food and check their health, but we cannot stay with them for obvious reasons: the enemy could stage a provocation and say that … we hid behind civilians.”
A bunker housing civilians, including children, was hit by intense rocket fire on Tuesday, and an elderly woman and man were injured, he said.
The intense-eyed, bearded figure spoke to Reuters via Zoom. He said he couldn’t turn the camera on the call to show his quarters in case it leaked information to the Russians.
He accused Russia of dishonestly urging civilians there to evacuate while shelling continued in the area. He called on international organizations such as the United Nations or the Red Cross to act as guarantors for the civilian population to leave immediately.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is in Ukraine and is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later on Thursday after meeting Putin on Tuesday.
Once the civilians are out, Palamar said the wounded and dead should be taken back to Ukraine and safe passage secured there for the Ukrainian contingent.
Captivity is not an option, he said.
“They are killed in captivity, they are mutilated, and that is why we propose to have a third party who can guarantee their withdrawal from Azovstal during the negotiations,”
He named Turkey or Israel as possible third parties.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces include the Azov regiment, national guardsmen, other brigades, marines, maritime security forces, border guards and police.
Azov fighters at the steelworks included Russians, Bulgarians, a Crimean Tatar, a Greek, Jews, Catholics and others, he said.
He said his main message to the world is to become aware of the threat posed by Russia and stop softening on Moscow.
“I hope now the world realizes its mistake… Everything our soldiers are doing here – not only in Mariupol, but on the territory of Ukraine – we are convinced that we are not only Ukraine, but also Poland, Lithuania, Latvia , save Estonia and Moldova and Georgia,” he said.
Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Margaryta Chornokondratenko; Editing by Angus MacSwan