KYIV (Dagbladet): For two months, Illja Samoilenko, a lieutenant in the Azov battalion, was in the besieged steelworks Azovstal in Mariupol with hundreds of other soldiers.
The steelworks – and the city of Mariupol – have since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine become a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance – and Russia’s brutality.
Samoilenko was not determined to get into that situation. After serving a couple of years in the Ukrainian defense, he left the military six months ago. He got a job in an international company and lived a completely normal life in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
That changed on February 21st.
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Proud of the son
In an interview with Dagbladet, Illja Samoilenko’s mother, Alla Samoilenko, says that her son went to Mariupol that day.
Samoilenko, whose name and picture have been published in all the world media since then, understood that a full-scale invasion was on the way. He would contribute, according to his mother Alla.
Must fight to the death
When Samoilenko held a two-hour video press conference from inside Azovstal last week, his mother followed. She is proud of the man he has become, she says, and received a greeting from her son the same day.
It was Mother’s Day.
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Acid camouflage
Other relatives of the soldiers inside Azovstal have not had the opportunity to keep in touch with their loved ones. Viktoria, a 53-year-old woman from Kyiv, has not had contact with her son since April 15.
She is full of anxiety and does not know if her son is alive.
The 53-year-old does not want to be photographed or share his own and his son’s surname.
– You know, he’s in the the battalion, she says, aiming at the Azov battalion.
The road to “hell”
– It can cause problems.
For one month, Victoria has been going to church every single day to pray for her son. In the afternoons, she has met neighbors at a local volunteer center. There they have crocheted and sewn camouflage nets for the Ukrainian defense.
She has also provided Ukraine’s armed forces with photos of her son, including his tattoo.
– I went to a demonstration once, which demanded that the authorities do something for them, but I did not feel comfortable among the young people. Let the girls, spouses and girlfriends of the soldiers do it. It is calmer for me to go to church, she says to Dagbladet.
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– Dirty water
Several of the Azov battalions’ girlfriends and wives have been highly profiled lately. Julia Fedosiuk, the wife of Azov soldier Arseniy Fedosiuk, met Pope Francis at the Vatican on May 11.
There she asked the head of the Catholic Church for help in evacuating the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in Azovstal.
She barely managed to hold back her tears during the meeting with the pope, she says in an interview with Dagbladet.
“In our last conversation, my husband asked me to find information on how to live as long as possible without drinking water,” read a letter she handed to the pope.
Fears huge environmental disaster
– The water they have is dirty drainage water that is used in the factory. They only have porridge and pasta to eat. There is nothing with proper nutrition anymore, she says to Dagbladet.
She says that the man’s unit of about 400 soldiers is said to have been on the eastern bank of the river in Mariupol, opposite Azovstal, as they are said to have been surrounded by Russian forces.
They must then have managed to fight their way through the Russians’ lines, and then swam across the river to seek refuge in Azovstal.
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– Injured in the fighting
Arsenij is said to have been injured in the fighting. His leg must have been hit by grenade or bomb shrapnel. However, conditions in Azovstal have prevented him from operating on the remains.
Instead, he must have taken antibiotics to avoid sepsis, and the wound must eventually have healed over the splinters.
This is how Putin hides the death toll
In Azovstal, this did not mean that Arseniy Fedosiuk was considered injured.
– One or two soldiers in Azovstal died every single day from injuries, says his wife Julia.
As the Russian siege and offensive against Azovstal increased in scope and intensity, it became more and more difficult to supply supplies to the Ukrainian soldiers.
In the end, it became impossible.
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– Ukraine needs its heroes
The interviews in this case were conducted in the days prior to the evacuation of Azovstal on Monday night.
Then many of the remaining soldiers in the steelworks – more than 260 in number – will have been transported out by bus. On Tuesday, even more were to be evacuated.
In all, there are about 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers, according to Russian authorities.
«Horror weapons»: – Everywhere
President Volodymyr Zelenskyj confirmed on Monday that orders had been issued to evacuate the soldiers to save lives.
– I want to emphasize: Ukraine needs its Ukrainian heroes alive. This is our principle, he said in a video statement.
There will still be more Ukrainian soldiers inside the steelworks, according to the BBC. It is unclear whether Fedosiuk and Samoilenko are among them.
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Led to Donbas
The severely and severely injured soldiers from Azovstal are said to have been evacuated to a hospital in Novoazovsk. Several others are said to have been transported to Olenivka.
Both cities are located in Donetsk Oblast in the Russian-controlled part of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine.
The hope is that the Azovstal soldiers will be sent back to Ukraine, as part of a prisoner exchange. However, several members of the Russian State Duma are very skeptical.
“Horror Spy” takes over
The Azov regiment was originally a right-wing radical militia that has since been incorporated into the Ukrainian defense, and plays a key role in Russian propaganda.
– There are war criminals among them, and we must do everything to get them punished, said Vyacheslav Volodin, who is the leader of the State Duma, according to NTB.
Russian authorities have not documented or substantiated these allegations.
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