A commander at the Azovstal steel complex in the besieged city of Mariupol told DailyExpertNews about the relentless bombing of the factory, where hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have been trapped for weeks.
Sviatoslav Palamar of the Azov regiment told DailyExpertNews there was intense shelling last night at the plant in Azovstal, from both ships and planes.
“At the same time, they are shooting at us from the ground,” he said. There had also been attempts to storm the Ukrainian-controlled area, he said, but they were averted.
“On the one hand, the (Russians) had declared the silent and non-fighting mode, but at the same time (at the same time) with infantry and equipment, they are trying to storm the factory territory,” he told DailyExpertNews.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his defense minister in Moscow that the factory should be closed but not stormed, and those who choose to surrender should be treated in accordance with international conventions.
Palamar told DailyExpertNews there were many wounded fighters and more than 500 soldiers who needed assurances that their lives would be saved.
“We also have civilians who will be killed if they storm the factory,” he said.
Palamar said a shelter for the injured in the factory was shelled on Thursday morning.
“It is very difficult to provide medical aid to our boys because our operating room has been destroyed where the remaining medicines and surgical equipment were stored,” he told DailyExpertNews.
Asked if the Ukrainian troops left in Azovstal were ready to surrender, Palamar said: “We are not thinking of scenarios to give up. We see it possible only through a guarantee from outside politicians, leaders, possibly the United States, United States and United States. Kingdom, Israel or Turkey, a guarantee that every soldier can leave safely.”
“We are ready to leave this area because it is very difficult and complicated to hold here with our personal weapons. We are ready for extraction, possibly extraction into the territory of a third country, but with our weapons in our hands, he continued. †
About the factory situation: Palamar told DailyExpertNews there was not much food and water left for the plant’s defenders. He said they had a limited amount of ammunition. “We don’t have the ability to destroy the planes and ships that are shelling us,” he said.
Still, he insisted: “We are not considering giving up or the conditions of giving up. We are only considering guarantees to leave the territory of the plant. If there is no choice but to give up, we will not give up.”
Palamar stressed that the soldiers at the factory wanted civilians sheltering there to be evacuated.
“We have asked for the evacuation of the civilians. We have been talking to the whole world since March that international politicians or organizations guarantee the safe removal of civilians to Ukrainian territory. So when we are asked if we are ready for civilians to leave from here, Not only are we ready, but first of all we ask that the civilians be rescued,” he told DailyExpertNews.
Speaking about the Ukrainian government’s plan to evacuate civilians stranded at the factory, which was to go into effect on Friday, Palamar said he was aware of such a convoy coming to Mariupol but couldn’t get there for security reasons. talk about it further.
“We are counting on the Red Cross and the organizations that go here to take care of our seriously injured first, because they need treatment, they need help,” he said.
Palamar said the soldiers and civilians were in separate parts of the Azovstal factory. They were in cellars and bunkers, but some were wounded.
“There are cellars and bunkers that we can’t reach because they are under the rubble. We don’t know if the people live there or not. There are children from four months to 16 years old. But there are people stuck in places where you can ‘ not reaching,” he told DailyExpertNews.