Katerina Sergatskova, editor-in-chief at Zaborona Media, (an independent media outlet covering social trends and culture in post-socialist countries in Eastern Europe) has tweeted a thread of the main points made in the press conference:
Here are the quotes she picks out from a press conference by the commanders of Azov regiment in he Azovstal plant in Mariupol. This is an unverified translation:
Civilians were evacuated in three days recently. We do not know if everyone was evacuated. From politicians we hear that it was success. But during the evacuation two servicemen were killed and six injured. This is the price of the evacuation of civilians.
[…]
On the territory of the Azovstal plant there are many civilian and military casualties, and tens of thousands of citizens died as a result of Russia’s actions during 2,5 months, they didn’t have a chance to be evacuated timely.
[…]
We have been asking for the evacuation of civilians for 2.5 months, and only now we have managed to evacuate several hundred. It is joy through tears.
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No one expected us to stand for so long. Our government failed to save Mariupol. We are called heroes, and we should not flaunt it, because we do our job. The heroes are next to me. Many people gave their lives for the city, for the state and for the citizens of Ukraine.
[…]
We could retreat from Mariupol, because we saw what a dangerous situation. But we decided to stay here, and we had an order to defend Mariupol.
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Many government officials have been sabotaging Ukraine’s defense for eight years. Everyone interfered, we knew that a great war with Russia was coming, and we were preparing. We didn’t get Javelins or coaches, we collected everything ourselves: information, ammunition.
[…]
We (Azov) were called a paramilitary group and radicals [by the West, as well as RU propaganda].Where we were radicals is in defending our country. We did great damage to the enemy. We received no help: no artillery or aircraft. We were left alone and we were alone for 8 years.
[…]
We know our past. We have been volunteers since 2014, there were many different people. But we decided to leave our past behind and become professional military. We wanted to create a new modern Ukrainian army, and trained as it should, at the highest level.
[…]
We are located 100 kilometers from the main Ukrainian positions. It is a shame to run away from here. Another option is to lay down your arms and surrender. The last option is to stand and fight.
We knew that the Azov Regiment had no high chance of survival. We cannot surrender and give up to the enemy. Because every POW is a resource for exchange to increase the level of political negotiations. They take away attention from another, it is a scattering of attention.
Moreover, not so long ago in April, Russian propaganda showed that they had captured Azov soldier. He had a large tattoo on his shoulder. They showed that he was alive, and a few days later sent a message to his mother that he had been strangled to death. They always do.
Russians are not interested in our lives. At the time, we had a lot of Russian POWs, and they are in the exchange fund, they are alive. We keep the agreements, the Russians do not.
We are fighting for a free world here. If #Russia will crash #Ukraine, and #Mariupol is the main location in this war, they will go further: to Poland, to the Baltic countries.
Ukrainian forces at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol have vowed to continue fighting for “as long as we are alive”.
Capt Sviatoslav Palamar, a deputy commandor of Ukraine’s Azov Regiment, also pleaded with the international community to help evacuate wounded soldiers.
He told an online conference:
We will continue to fight as long as we are alive to repel the Russian occupiers.
Calling for urgency to evacuate wounded soldiers, he said:
We don’t have much time, we are coming under intense shelling.
Moscow residents appeared anxious but resilient as Russia prepared to celebrate Victory Day on Monday, reports Reuters.
“Emotionally it affects you because I have two sisters living in Ukraine,” said Larisa. “Of course, it is very difficult to communicate with them now – very difficult. They have their own information war going on now.”
She added: “In Russia as a whole, there is a lot of cohesion now among the masses in connection with these events: what I can say is that patriotism is growing.”
According to opinion polls, most Russians support the military operation and president Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has risen more than 14 points to 81.5% since the start of the war in Ukraine.
