Last fighters at Mariupol steelworks sing amid assault
The remaining Ukrainian fighters defending the besieged city of Mariupol Thursday repelled a Russian attack as footage emerged of them singing in what could be their final hours.
Troops from the far-right Azov battalion, who are holed up in the Azovstal steelworks, vowed to fight to the death as Moscow stepped up attacks on the last pocket of resistance in the southern port city.
Their commander, Lt.-Col. Denis Prokopenko, praised his soldiers' “superhuman efforts” in seeing off the latest onslaught, which he described as “difficult, bloody battles” against Russian forces.
It came as Ukrainian officials said Russian troops had entered the Azovstal plant for the first time after a sustained bombing campaign on the facility in an attempt to overwhelm its final defenders. The sprawling Soviet-era factory and its vast network of underground tunnels has become a symbol of defiance against Russian attempts to seize full control of Mariupol.
Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's defence minister, said the area had become the “heart” of the war in Ukraine after being almost completely razed to the ground by Russian forces during a twomonth siege.
As Russia ratcheted up the pressure on the remaining Ukrainians, footage of a female soldier singing songs synonymous with resistance fighters during the Second World War in a darkened bunker was posted on social media. “Be faithful to your Motherland until death,” she sang.
Fearing imminent capture, another Ukrainian soldier barricaded in the Azovstal plant expressed grave concerns over being caught alive and paraded in cages on Russia's Victory Day.
“I think they are trying to catch some of us alive before May 9 and send us to the parade in cages,” they said, in a text message shared on social media. “Forget about us, we won't get out of here.”
Ukrainian officials accused Russia of violating a Moscow-announced ceasefire to allow for the evacuation of some 200 civilians, including 30 children, stranded in the industrial complex.
There were also calls for international support in rescuing the 2,000 people holding out in the facility.
But Lt.-Col. Prokopenko insisted his Azov fighters would not surrender. “The situation is extremely hard. However, we will continue carrying out the order to keep up our defences no matter what,” he said in a video shared on the Telegram messaging app.