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MUKACHEVO, Ukraine — The commander of Ukraine’s forces’ last stronghold in the southern port city of Mariupol, which is surrounded by Russians and subjected to constant barrage, said Tuesday his soldiers will not surrender.
In his most lengthy comments to Western media, Major Serhiy Volyna of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, whose forces are holding out at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works against a vastly outnumbered Russian force, told the Washington Post that his soldiers were going “on Conduct combat operations and fulfill our military duties as long as we receive them.”
“We will not lay down our arms,” Volyna said.
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Speaking over a crackling link made possible by satellites, he said his forces would not repeat the mistake others have made of trusting Russian guarantees of safe passage, only to see the Russians go back on their word and open fire.
“No one believes the Russians,” he said.
Volyna passionately appealed to world leaders, particularly President Biden, to conduct an “extraction” in which a third country would ensure the safety of troops and civilians leaving Mariupol.
The Russian Defense Ministry earlier on Tuesday gave Ukrainians a deadline to surrender their weapons and leave the iron and steel works.
Volyna, who has fought in Mariupol since the Russian invasion began, gave a rare glimpse into the lives of the soldiers and hundreds of civilians, including women and children, who took refuge in the steel mill that has been rising since the city fell.
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The capture of Mariupol would be a significant victory for Russia, which has withdrawn from several cities around the capital Kyiv and suffered the sinking of one of its main warships, the Moskva.
It would also give Russia a land bridge between the Russian-controlled territory of Crimea and the Donbass region to the east, where Moscow is now focusing its offensive.
Volyna said that the Russians “constantly use airborne, artillery and naval artillery of various systems” and “try to carry out offensive actions under the cover of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles” in order to break through the Ukrainians’ defenses.
He said at least 500 people were wounded at the facility, including civilians.
“It’s in the basement where people just rot. There is no medication,” he said. The fighters and civilians inhabit an underground tunnel system that allows them to protect injured civilians and provide minimal medical care.
He declined to disclose the number of militants at the facility, which include members of the Azov regiment, part of Ukraine’s national guard, as well as police officers and border guards.
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He called the situation “tragic” and “critical” and appealed “very strongly” to Biden to help rescue the soldiers and civilians who “fell into this trap.”
He said this could be done through a military operation “with any necessary military means” or a political agreement with a second country or a “non-military organization” guaranteeing Ukrainians safe transit.
“We really hope that President Biden will listen to us and help us resolve our situation,” Volyna said. “We believe this is one of the few people who can really influence and resolve this situation in a short amount of time.”
One of the largest metallurgical factories in Europe, the Soviet-era iron and steel works stretches four square miles along the city’s waterfront. It now serves as a fortress-like shelter. Before becoming a major battlefield, it played a dominant role in the city’s economy and provided a livelihood for tens of thousands of people.
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Unassisted and cut off from the outside world, soldiers and civilians rely on each other to survive. Every night Volyna sleeps two to three hours in a wet basement next to his comrades.
“We save water together, we support each other, try to help each other as much as possible,” he said. “Everyone is ready to move on together.”
He said morale among the soldiers remained high: “We are clear about everything and we understand everything calmly and we continue to conduct combat missions.”
The shelling, he said, was “round the clock.”
Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko, said Russian aggression in Mariupol has resulted in up to 20,000 civilians killed since the invasion began. They said Russian troops targeted unarmed residents and blocked humanitarian relief efforts.
On Tuesday, Volyna described a city “torn from the face of the earth.” Scores of people lay under the rubble of burnt-out houses and bombed-out buildings. Crosses have grown in courtyards and on walls, and makeshift graves have littered the city, harrowing reminders of the loss of life.
“What is happening here is beyond basic human understanding,” he said.