Defenders of Mariupol hold an online press conference at besieged Azovstal: highlights

Deputy Commander of Azov Regiment Sviatoslav Palamar (call sign Kalyna) and Illia Samoilenko, Officer of the Intelligence Department of the Azov Regiment, hold an online press conference at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, which Ukrainian service members continue to defend.

Situation at Azovstal now

Sviatoslav Palamar:  Intense shellings continue. In just one night, we counted 25 attacks, including 3 from strategic bombers. Tanks, mortars, and snipers are working; infantry is trying to storm.

Over three past days, civilians were evacuated. Was everyone evacuated? We can't say because we don't have special equipment to clean the rubbles.

There are many civilian and military casualties on the territory of the plant. Two days ago, three of our service members were killed: one died when an anti-tank missile system hit a car that was supposed to evacuate civilians, and two others died while dropping bombs from a drone. Six other service members were injured. This is the price of evacuating civilians from the factory.

Here we are standing up not for words, we are defending the people of Ukraine. We are performing our military duty, we do not need praise. We will fight as long as we live, for justice, for the evacuation of civilians and wounded soldiers.

Number of civilians and service members at the plant

Illia Samoilenko:  [As for service members, ed.] this is a very sensitive question. I can't endanger my unit.

Blockade of Mariupol

Illia Samoilenko:  The siege of Mariupol has been going on for the last 2.5 months. It lasted so long, that never happened before in history, with so many casualties among enemy personnel and significant losses among the civilian population. What breaks my heart the most is the evacuation of small groups. Politicians note small victories like the evacuation of dozens and hundreds of people, but at the same time, the Russian army killed more than 25,000 people.

On heroism

Illia Samoilenko:  The truth is that we are unique. Nobody expected us to withstand for so long. Many people say that we are heroes. Many call us heroes. We do our job.

Heroism comes when planning and organization fail. Many people believe that we are living heroes. When the city's siege began, we decided to stand here under any conditions 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 withstand that long. I did not expect either. We thought that Russia would overcome everyone, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine resisted.

Enemy losses

Illia Samoilenko:  Ukrainian fighters from Azov Regiment killed 2,500 Russian service members in Mariupol and injured 5,000, which is more than 15% of the military losses of their army [in the battle of Mariupol, ed.].

We also destroyed more than 60 tanks and damaged another 30, which is 10% of their losses. We also destroyed 10% of the enemy artillery systems.

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 abandoned to the mercy of fate.

Civilians at Azovstal

Illia Samoilenko:  There were several thousand civilians inside the plant. People fled the city and found shelter at the plant. Civilians are a limiting factor for the military. If there were no civilians, the city would be just a battlefield. But we defended them because it is our duty. We placed them in bunkers away from our positions. We provided them with medical care, food, and water and shared all our resources.

Accusations of using civilians as a 'human shield'

Illia Samoilenko:  All these accusations are normal if you think like a Russian soldier. But if you look from the point of view of a civilian who witnessed all the horrors the Russian army did, you will understand they found refuge here behind our line of defense, inside the Azovstal plant. Many people stayed in Mariupol while we kept the line of defense outside the city.

Chances for surviving in Mariupol

The first option:  you can put down your weapons and wait for the end. It will be a slow death from starvation or a fast one from bombs.

The second option:  you can try to escape like a coward. Think only of your own life, not of duty and oath. This is exactly what happened to the commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade [Colonel Volodymyr Baranyuk is now held captive by Russian occupiers, ed.]: 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 [from the brigade, ed.] died.

The third option:  you can surrender.  The fourth option:  the only way you will not be ashamed of and which guarantees your life is to withstand and fight.

Option to surrender

Illia Samoilenko:  All this time, we knew that the Azov Regiment had no high chance of survival if Russian troops took us prisoners; surrendering is unacceptable for us. We cannot make such a gift to the enemy. Everyone who is a prisoner is a resource of political and military pressure to increase the level of negotiations and positions that we can leave on the political scene.

One of our soldiers was captured during the battle on the twentieth of April. He was unconscious. Russian propaganda then published a video of Ukrainian soldiers surrendering their weapons, and his mother was later informed of his death.

We have several captured Russian soldiers. We exchanged them later.

Evacuation of service members

Illia Samoilenko:  The only option for us is evacuation because we have already spent all our resources that allowed an 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, they haven't been renewed. We will fight until a better solution to the situation is discovered.

Evacuation of wounded service members and medics

Earlier, Zelensky  announced  preparations for the evacuation of wounded service members and medics.

Illia Samoilenko:  If politicians can guarantee their security, that's good. Medics are exhausted. They are heroes, they did impossible things. If medics are evacuated from the plant, the military will be restricted in receiving medical care.

Communication with the command and families

Illia Samoilenko:  We have a connection with the command and an order to keep the defense.

Most of us have connections with our families. We admire their support and love them very much, they show their love to us. We will meet with our families, wives, and friends one day and celebrate the victory, but we still have to fight for our victory.

Who can help Mariupol

Illia Samoilenko:  Many petitions  and statements calling for our salvation emerged due to wide international publicity. Many people want to help, but they don't know how. Any country could intervene, except Russia and those that support Russia. Any country that has enough courage to intervene and stop Russia would be good for us.

About fear

Illia Samoilenko:  We have no fear. It vanished. Every day, every minute can be the last, so there is no fear. It isn't so difficult to live without fear.

About the wounded people

Illia Samoilenko:  We have several hundred wounded people. We have many wounded people whom we cannot leave here, they deserve proper support and treatment. We won't leave anyone. We are providing the necessary assistance, but we have many wounded service members who need to be evacuated.

Latest updates on the situation at Azovstal

Russian troops broke into  Azovstal in besieged Mariupol on May 4, despite Russia's claims that it had been decided to lay siege to the plant instead of storming it. Heavy fighting continues between Ukrainian forces and Russian invaders.

At that time, Ukraine and Russia, with the support of the United Nations, agreed to evacuate civilians hiding in the plant's bomb shelters. The evacuation began on May 1. On May 7, Ukrainian authorities announced that all women, children, and the elderly had been evacuated from Azovstal.

President Zelensky announced preparations for the next step — evacuating the wounded and medics from Azovstal. On April 27, Acting Commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade Serhiy Volynskyi  said that more than 600 wounded servicemen were at the plant.

Defenders of Mariupol have repeatedly appealed to the Ukrainian authorities and the world community, emphasizing that the fighters have problems with supplies of food, water, medicine, and ammunition.

Activists and many non-governmental organizations created a  petition  to the United Nations and world leaders to rescue Ukrainian soldiers and civilians from the Azovstal plant using the extraction procedure.