News
One of the five captured Ukrainian servicemen from Azovstal(second left in the picture above) was found dead a week later. The fate of the others is unknown, Vazhniye Istorii reports.
A video showing the «surrendered» servicemen was published by the DNR People's Militia press service on April 20. The voice-over promised the military «the preservation of life and compliance with international laws on the treatment of prisoners of war.»
A week later, the mother of Dan Zvonik, one of the soldiers, received a photo of her dead son with a distinctive tattoo confirming his identity.
In an interview with CNN, she said she believed her son had been killed by the Russian military: On May 1, his body was handed over to relatives, and they saw a large hole in the back of the dead man's head.
Vazhniye Istorii journalists contacted the wife of another captive soldier. On April 19, he called and told her that they would be taken to a hospital in Novoazovsk. However, later it turned out the soldiers were not there. «They don't even tell us where they are being held. I visited the DNR UBOP(Directorate for Combating Organized Crime), but they sent me away saying, »Who do you think we are, a bureau of good offices?» Since then, there has been no news about the prisoners.
The siege of Mariupol has been going on for almost two months, with the Azovstal plant remaining the last area under Ukrainian control. On April 21, Vladimir Putin ordered that the storming of Azovstal be cancelled and that the area be sealed off instead »so that even a fly can't get through.» The day before, Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov regiment, had recorded a video message in which he said the soldiers were not ready to surrender or leave their dead and wounded in the city, but would agree to leave given the opportunity.
In early May, the evacuation of civilians from the factory began with the help of the UN and the ICRC. Later, the Russian side resumed storming the factory, accusing the Azov regiment of violating the silence regime. About 200 civilians remain at the factory site.