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“Everyone is like zombies here”: worrying voices from the besieged Azovstal Steelworks in Mariupol

2022-04-30T20:24:42.274Z


“Everyone is like zombies here”: worrying voices from the besieged Azovstal Steelworks in Mariupol Created: 04/30/2022, 22:12 By: Kathrin Reikowski The steelworks of the Azov Steel concern, where the last Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol are holding out. © HANDOUT/AFP Ukraine War: Rare reports from Asovztal steel mill besieged by Russia show people had taken shelter and fallen into a trap. Mar


“Everyone is like zombies here”: worrying voices from the besieged Azovstal Steelworks in Mariupol

Created: 04/30/2022, 22:12

By: Kathrin Reikowski

The steelworks of the Azov Steel concern, where the last Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol are holding out.

© HANDOUT/AFP

Ukraine War: Rare reports from Asovztal steel mill besieged by Russia show people had taken shelter and fallen into a trap.

Mariupol (Ukraine) - “The whole world warned us that Russia would invade Ukraine.

But we didn't believe it.

We thought: Maybe there will be attacks in the East - but a real war?

Even a day before the invasion, we were sure that nothing would happen,” Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO at Metinvest, which owns the steel mill, tells

Der Spiegel

in a video interview.

And says, "We were fools."

It is unclear exactly how many people were in the steelworks.

"We don't count them," reports Michael Werschinin, head of the patrol police, to

Der Spiegel.

"Taking a civilian into a place where there is cell phone reception is extremely dangerous because there is bombing and shooting 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he says.

War in Ukraine/Mariupol: The steelworks were considered safe - that's how the civilians fell into the trap

“The conditions are terrible.

There is a hospital on site, but we are constantly being bombed or shelled with artillery.

The doctors operate with a flashlight because there is no electricity.

The nurses and paramedics work around the clock,” reports

Virktor Otscheretin wanted to work in a steel mill since he was a child - and made it to production manager.

The reason why there are so many civilians in the steelworks is that the plant was known throughout the city for its bunkers.

“As the bombing intensified after February 28th, masses started moving.

They walked or drove to the site, the factory gates were open,” he reports.

“When the bridges across the river were bombed on March 17, there were already 4,000 people in the Azov bunkers.

After that it was very difficult to get out of there, especially for people with small children.” There was constant shelling.

Olena, a medic, has been locked inside the steel mill for six weeks.

She writes a short message to

Der Spiegel

: “There is still light in our bunker, but not in others.

They also ran out of food or medicine.

It's stuffy and damp, I can't breathe." There is still a little water, but hardly any food.

War in Ukraine: Those trapped in Azowstal hope for the international community

Her daughter, computer scientist Lesja - outside of Azowstal - sometimes has contact with her locked-in mother for minutes over the Internet.

"Mom keeps asking when they're going to rescue her.

Or whether there are plans to break through the blockade of the steel mill.

She says the steel mill is being bombed non-stop at the moment, she can hear it clearly.” To distract her, she gives her little tasks, like taking a picture.

“She is also afraid of chemical weapons.

She is afraid that the civilians will be evacuated – and that the other military personnel will be killed.” The last time her mother was particularly desperate.

"She wrote, 'Everyone here is like a zombie, it's horrible.'"

"What is happening here in Azov-Steel, in the 21st century, in a European country, is blasphemy against all principles of democratic states," says Vershinin, the head of the Ukraine conflict patrol in his hometown.

“It is a violation of every constitutional norm, every moral principle.

We're not making demands, we're asking the community to get people out of here – now.” Is Azovstal about to be stormed?

About 20 civilians were evacuated on Saturday - all developments in the news ticker on the Ukraine war.

(cat)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-04-30

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