“More than 25,000 people were killed in Mariupol” – Azov fighters at a press conference from Azovstal plant

What happened? Deputy Regiment Commander Sviatoslav “Kalyna” Palamar and Intelligence Officer Ilya Samoilenko give a briefing from Azovstal plant in Mariupol.

Source. The briefing was broadcasted by “hromadske”.

Details. The current situation at Azovstal

The intense shellings are being carried out. In just one night, the 25 sorties were counted, including three strategic bombers. Tanks, mortars, snipers are working, infantry is trying to storm the territory.

Civilians have been evacuated over the past three days. Were everyone evacuated? 

We can't say that since none of the international organizations or Ukrainian politicians came to the plant, there is no special equipment to shift the rubble.

There are many civilian and military casualties on the territory of the plant. Two days ago, despite the regime of calm, three of our servicemen were killed: one of them was hit by an ATGM launched in his car that was supposed to pick up civilians, and two others died while bombs were dropped from a russian drone. Six were also injured. This is the price of evacuating civilians from the factory.

We are not for the words here, we are for the people of Ukraine. We are doing our military duty, we do not need praise. We will always fight while we are alive, for justice, for the evacuation of civilians and wounded soldiers.

Blockade of Mariupol

The capture of Mariupol has been going on for the last 2.5 months. Such a siege and such a seizure has been going on for as long as never before, with as many casualties among military enemies and significant losses among the civilian population as never in our history.

What breaks my heart the most is the evacuation of small groups. Politicians note small victories – the evacuation of dozens and hundreds of people, while more than 25,000 people were killed by the russian army.

Heroism

The truth is that we are unique. Nobody expected us to resist for so long... Many people consider us as heroes. Many of us are called heroes... But we just do our job.

Heroism comes when planning and organization fail. Many people believe that we are living heroes. Mostly it is so. When the siege of the city began, we decided to stand here whatever it took and defend it.

We had an order to defend Mariupol. But we did not have an order to take full command of the defense of Mariupol, but this decision was made because no one else was able to do it. Nobody expected us to resist for so long. I did not expect either. We thought that russia would overcome everyone, but the Armed Forces withstood.

Losses of the occupiers

Ukrainian Azov fighters killed 2,500 russian servicemen in Mariupol and wounded another 5,000 occupiers, more than 15 percent of their army's military losses. Such losses were inflicted from February 24 to April 15.

We also destroyed more than 60 tanks and damaged another 30 – 10% of their total losses. And also destroyed 10% of the artillery systems of the occupiers.

There were days when more than 150 air bombs were dropped on Mariupol. And we got zero support. No air support, no ground support, no artillery support. We were actually left to our own devices.

Chances in Mariupol

We had several options. The first one was to lay down our arms and wait for the end: it would be either a slow death from starvation or fast – from bombs.

The second option: you can try to escape like a coward. Thinking only of your own life, not of duty and oath. This is exactly what happened to the commander of the Marines of the 36th Brigade: he refused to obey the order and he tried to escape from the city with a small group of tanks and armored vehicles. This option could lead to death, one person died.

The third option: you can give up. The fourth option: the only way to guarantee your life and you will not be ashamed is to stand and fight.

We have known all this time that Azov Regiment has no high chance of survival if we are taken captive, and, moreover, it is unacceptable from our side to surrender. We cannot make such a gift to the enemy. Everyone who is a prisoner of war is a resource of political and military pressure to increase the level of negotiations and positions that we can leave on the political scene.

Evacuation of the military

We can only be evacuated because we have already spent all our resources on effective defense. We still have provisions, water and weapons, including artillery, but we can't use it because we are close to the city. But all our resources are limited, we have not received replenishment of resources. We will fight for a better solution to the situation.