Damage to the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, Ukraine on Friday, May 27. (Leon Klein / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
Two wives and friends of Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russian forces or unknown after the Azovstal plant was defended during a long siege told CNN they had little or no information about the whereabouts of their loved ones.
“I have not contacted my husband and I have not received any information about him lately,” said Anna Ivleva, Anton’s wife, who was badly wounded in the Azov Marine Corps. “The last time we talked was on April 13. And then his brothers-in-arms would send me messages that he was still alive.
Ivleva said Ukrainian government officials had been in contact, but added that “there is no information” on where and under what conditions Azovstal’s fighters are being held. She hopes her husband is alive, even in captivity.
“All of us – families, wives and mothers of Marines, stick to each other, we are always in touch with each other 24/7,” she said. “We always share all the available news, we are like a family.”
The besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol came under full Russian control earlier this month with the capitulation of Azovstal, the city’s last stronghold of Ukraine’s defense. It is unclear how many Ukrainian soldiers are in Russia’s custody, but the Russian military says more than 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen have surrendered there. Russian state propaganda demonizes Azovstal’s defenders as “Nazis”, raising serious concerns about how they could be treated in captivity.
A woman named Yana helped organize events in Kyiv in support of Azovstal fighters. Her boyfriend is a Marine who was in Azovstal. She spoke on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns.
I haven’t heard from him or anything about him, “she said.” The last time we got in touch was on May 11. “
She said the Ukrainian government had not provided any information on where her friend might be.
“The ICRC contacted my boyfriend’s mother [the International Committee of the Red Cross]”I can’t remember exactly when,” she said. “They just told her he was alive, that’s it.”
The ICRC has been involved in registering fighters leaving the Azovstal plant since May 17th – in part to help prisoners of war keep in touch with their families. The organization has been working in Ukraine since 2014, when the war broke out in the Ukrainian region of Donbass.
Another wife of an Azovstal defender, Tatiana, said her husband had managed to call her from an unknown number after the broadcast, and said some of his comrades were being held in a city in the separatist-controlled Donetsk region. CNN agreed not to disclose her last name for the same reasons.
“His voice was calm and confident,” she said. “He said the conditions under which they were held were OK. He said they may be allowed to receive some packages in the future.
Tatiana said she had talked to her husband for about 10 minutes and that her husband had said he would try to call again.
“That is, no more calls or news,” she said.
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