"If we leave, who will defend Mariupol": wife has been waiting for Azov fighter from Russian captivity for over a year

For over a year now, Russia has been holding in captivity almost 2,000 soldiers who defended Mariupol for 86 days. The wives of the soldiers are begging the world to pay attention to the fact that the prisoners are being held in terrible conditions, tortured and subjected to show trials.

The journalists of Slidstvo.Info talked to the wife of a soldier of the Azov regiment, who is waiting for her husband to return from Russian captivity. The video has English subtitles.

HAS ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AN EXAMPLE

Hanna is an illustrator who creates posters about prisoners of war. Her husband Oleksandr is a soldier in the Azov regiment, a defender of Mariupol, who, together with soldiers from other Ukrainian units, obeyed an order to surrender in May 2022.

Hanna, the wife of a captured Azov soldier

The soldiers of the Mariupol garrison were completely surrounded for 82 days defending the city from the Russians. To save their lives, they were ordered to leave Azovstal.

Anna’s husband is a historian by training. He joined Azov in 2018. And then he went to the Donetsk Oblast.

“Sashko (short for Oleksandr – transl.) told me that he wanted to join the regiment, there were very cool guys there, he wanted to prove himself there somehow. We had a wedding, and just three days later he ran away to join the regiment. On the third day, I was already seeing him off, standing at the train station, waving… and he was leaving… for Mariupol,” she recalls.

Hanna followed her husband a few months later. Originally from Luhansk, she knew what war was like.

“For a very long time, I had been telling him how it all happened to us and how much I missed home. And he was very sympathetic to me. He supported me and said that he would like to see my home,” Hanna recalls.

She says that Sashko always wanted to be a soldier: “He wanted to be an example. The kind of soldier I would admire.”

FEBRUARY 2022. “I FEEL LIKE IT’S 2014 AGAIN AND I’M PACKING MY THINGS”

Sashko met the full-scale invasion in Mariupol and stayed there until the last day of the defence. On the eve of 24 February 2022, Hanna was supposed to go to Kyiv on business, but she had her doubts. Her husband persuaded her to go on the trip.

“And my husband said: “Take the dog, take your things, whatever you can, just take my documents just in case.” I was very disturbed, I was very worried, and I felt as if it was 2014 again, here is my Luhansk, here I am packing all my things and going on holiday, which has dragged on for so many years,” the young woman recalls.

The morning Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, Anna lost contact with her husband.

“I was constantly on the phone: “What’s going on? How are you? Answer me.” There is no answer. Silence… Silence… then a message comes: “It’s okay, I’ll be here with the guys, we’re holding on,” says Hanna.

Since then, Hanna’s life has been one of waiting, with almost no contact with her husband. The longest conversation they had lasted 10 minutes. Once, Sashko did not respond for 4 days.

“I was already thinking… I can’t. No matter who I write to, no one answers, there is no connection with anyone. Then, at night, someone calls. I hear a voice… It was very terrible when you talk to a person every day, and then they are gone for a day or two, and you don’t know what to think about, where to write,” Anna shares her worries.

“I’M HUNGRY, IT’S REALLY HARD”. A MESSAGE FROM MARIUPOL

Each of Sashko’s messages is full of resilience, but it is painful to read. The soldiers did not have enough food and water. They were in remote positions. The people who were supposed to deliver food died before they could bring it.

“Honey, we will have everything. When I come back, we will have everything. We will have food, bread, sugar. I really want tea,” Sashko wrote to his wife.

Hanna says these were scary messages. The man wrote that he and his fellow soldiers had found a bag of buckwheat and divided it among the three of them, it was all their food for the day.

“I’m hungry, I can’t think about anything, it’s very hard for me. I’m constantly hungry,” Hanna recalls a message from her husband.

Sashko also described what was happening in the city: “A lot of 200ths (dead — transl.). A lot of them. People die when they are not expecting it. I saw a couple. They seemed to be standing and hugging each other under fire. They died in an embrace.”

The text on the first one says “A lot of 200ths (dead — transl.). A lot of them. People die when they are not expecting it. I saw a couple. They seemed to be standing and hugging each other under fire. They died in an embrace, a “120” (a mortar missile — transl.). I saw an old man sitting on a chair next to his house — there he stayed. I saw an old lady whose head was injured by the chandelier. And many many more 200ths. Soon the dogs will begin dragging them around the streets”.

The text on the second one says “I taped my documents and Azov military chevrons to the plate on my body armour — this way they will not get lost because my armour is always with me. This is how we live) There is a lot to tell you, to share, to laugh at and even cry. I don’t have a connection with many people and am dying of curiosity to know how they are doing and if they are alive at all. I am trying not to think about it because thinking ___ is harmful. We will have time for sadness after. Now there are more important things to do. Anyway what I am always worried about is you. Sending you hugs and kisses. Sleep tight, my love. Soon I will be back and hug you. And, most likely, cry. When the war is over, I think, I can afford it”.

The text on the third one says “I got out, I am alive. “Hrads” (missiles from “Hrad” – transl.) were literally falling behind our backs and biting on the arse”.

“IF WE LEAVE, WHO WILL DEFEND THE CITY”

Despite the difficult conditions for defence and the superior numbers of the Russian army, Ukrainian defenders did not retreat. Mariupol was defended by soldiers of the Azov Special Forces, the 12th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, border guards, police and volunteers.

“It seems to me that it was something similar to the first occupation of Mariupol (Russia’s first attempt to occupy the city was in 2014 — ed.), and they (the Ukrainian military — ed.) thought that it would not be as large-scale now. And then the guys wrote: “but we can’t retreat. Where are we going? If we leave here, who will defend the city?” says Hanna.

Sashko and his comrades decided to hold the city’s defence to the end.

“My husband told me directly: “I’ll be here, I love you, but I’m needed here,” says Hanna.

“GO AND PRAY, MAYBE IT WILL HELP”

Russians surrounded the Ukrainian military at the Azovstal plant. In mid-May 2022, the defenders of Mariupol followed the order of the Ukrainian authorities and surrendered to the Russians. At the time, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that saving lives was more important. The General Staff called the Ukrainian military heroes who went down in history. The Ukrainian authorities assured that the captured soldiers would be exchanged and returned home. However, the Russians are reluctant to let the defenders of Mariupol go back.

Hanna learned about Sashko’s capture from the news. Her husband did not have time to warn her personally: “The whole country was writing big slogans: “I am Azov, we are Azov, all of Ukraine is Azov. ‘I just remember it like a scary movie,” Hanna recalls.

According to her, the Red Cross was supposed to be the third party in the surrender.

“I think all women now have very big claims against the Red Cross. Especially when you call. And you… We had a case when… We called the Red Cross hotline, and the Red Cross… ‘Go and pray, maybe it will help’.”

According to Hanna, the volunteers of the International Red Cross were not present during the withdrawal of Ukrainian soldiers from Azovstal on all the days, which is why not all of them were included in the lists of prisoners of war. So the families of many of the defenders have to find out about the fate of their loved ones on their own.

“The most terrible situation is with our friend, whom I still don’t know if he is alive. He was taken to a hospital, which was later captured. And at this point, it is not known whether he survived, was captured, or was killed,” says Hanna.

The young woman says that the worst thing for her is not knowing where to look for a person or whom to contact.

“You know, as horrible as it sounds, if a person is dead, you have time to cry and grieve. When a person is in captivity, you try to cope with it, because you know that you are alive. And when he is gone and you don’t even know where to look or who to turn to, it’s the worst thing,” says Hanna.

A message from Sashko

The text says: “I don’t have a connection with many people and am dying of curiosity to know how they are doing and if they are alive at all. I am trying not to think about it because thinking ___ is harmful. We will have time for sadness after. Now there are more important things to do. Anyway what I am always worried about is you. Sending you hugs and kisses. Sleep tight, my love. Soon I will be back and hug you. And, most likely, cry. When the war is over, I think, I can afford it”.

The wives of Azov soldiers have united to work together to bring their loved ones back.

“We are trying to cope with this. Everyone is coping in their own way. There are people who cry, who cry all the time. There are those who try to do something. Every day you pull yourself together, you wake up, you try to do something, anything.”

Hanna learned that Sashko’s health had deteriorated. His eyesight has fallen and he is not being fed well, like the other prisoners. The lack of confirmed information and a year of captivity are killing her morale.

“It’s with you every day. You wake up with it, you fall asleep with it. And you live with it. You don’t know what’s happening to the person. What will happen next. I don’t know if they will be killed tomorrow or if they will live… How much longer will they have to stay there with such exchanges? And what kind of person I will bring back. In general, will he survive after all this?” says Hanna.

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