Survivor, is the word that best suits Sviatoslav. Thirty-three years old, the former Ukrainian policeman has on his shoulders an epic of struggles that began nine years ago, when he was forced to leave his hometown, Donetsk, which ended up in the hands of pro-Russian separatists. Then there was the invasion, the defense of Mariupol and Azovstal, the Russian captivity, the return home. Then, the decision to return to the front, as a soldier, to fight for those territories now occupied. And to give hope and freedom to that city, Mariupol, which after a year remains in the grip of the invaders.
"In Donetsk, in 2014, we had the opportunity to hold our positions. But no one wanted to do it. We simply abandoned it," Sviatoslav told ANSA, without hiding a certain bitterness. Camouflage and hat with Ukrainian trident, he speaks in connection from Pokrovsk, Donetsk, a few tens of kilometers from the front, where he is deployed. "There it was our mistake. That's why I decided last year to stay in Mariupol, it was like having a second chance for me to resist." In the port city, Sviatoslav had moved in 2015, where he was a policeman. On February 25, 2022, the day after the invasion, he received orders to evacuate along with his comrades. "Many of my colleagues obeyed. But I and 25 other policemen decided to stay in the city."
In Kiev a march to remember the fall of Azovstal a year ago
After more than a year, Sviatoslav still remembers those days of battle, district by district. But with time it became increasingly difficult to resist the fury of the Russians, so he was forced to fall back among the forces of the Azovstal steel plant, fighting first to hold the outer zone of the plant, then for the bunkers. Carrying out a resistance to an average of 40 Russian attacks per day. "Twice they also bombed us with the Fab-500, the bunker bombs."
"We had a month of food available, we had to keep and wait for the special units for extraction." But that operation never came: in the end, Azovstal's defenders were told to stop fighting. "We welcomed that communication calmly. We trusted our commanders and were confident that we would survive.
Officially it was not a surrender but a 'transfer' to a camp under the Geneva Convention. We knew immediately that we were going to go to jail, we are not children." The first groups left the steel mill on 16 May. "They were the most seriously injured. I went out with the last groups on May 20th. The Russians stole our money, medicine and then took us to Olenivka", an occupied Donetsk prison that became infamous for a bombing in July 2022 that killed 53 detainees and wounded 73. For that massacre, the Russians accuse the Ukrainians of denying and speak of a Moscow operation to cover up the torture of prisoners.
A theory that also supports Sviatoslav, who was there at the time of the explosion, but in another building: "A few days before we saw soldiers of the Azov battalion being transferred to that barrack, and after 2-3 days there was the explosion. I believe they planted explosives to blame the Ukrainians."
Sviatoslav will remain in Russian hands until September 21, the day of his liberation. A happy ending that many have been waiting for since those days in Azovstal: of the approximately 2,500 defenders of the steel plant, only 500 have returned home. "The intelligence forces deal with the exchange of prisoners, I trust them, they are doing everything possible but the Russians try to hinder the Azovstal prisoner exchanges, it is not easy to put them on the lists," says Sviatoslav.
From that September, the rehabilitation period began for the policeman that brought him back to life: during his imprisonment, he had lost 30 kilos. Despite the drama experienced, his desire was to return to fight as soon as possible. He was fulfilled almost two months later, when on December 15, 2022, he was reinstated in the Ukrainian forces. "Now I will join one of the brigades of the counteroffensive, I will be commander of one of the units, we are preparing to leave at any time," he says. "I would like to be part of the forces that Mariupol will liberate. But this will depend on the orders. In any case, I believe in the counter-offensive, and I have no doubt that we will succeed in liberating our territories, Mariupol and also Donetsk: my dream is to see the Ukrainian flag flying there.