Mariupol's Last Stand: Inside Azovstal

Azov regiment soldier and photographer Dmytro Kozatsky offered the world a glimpse inside the Azovstal steel factory, where civilians and soldiers maintained the final resistance to Russian forces attempting to occupy the city of Mariupol. After helping to get the citizens to safety, Dmytro and his fellow soldiers surrendered on May 20. They were taken into captivity. 

Dymtro's images have appeared in many media outlets; he made the album widely available in full resolution in his Twitter post announcing the unit's surrender. With his mother's permission, we are including the entire collection in our Voices from Ukraine project. His mother, Iryna Yurchenko, also sent a short remark and several photographs to be included with the post. 

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Greetings! 

My name is Iryna Yurchenko. I am the mother of a soldier of the Azov Regiment Dmytro Kozatsky (call sign "Orest," 26 years old). 

My son joined the National Guard in 2015, and in 2017 joined the Azov Regiment with the National Guard of Ukraine. He liked the training, the discipline, and the sense of humanity that prevailed in Azov among the service members. They were bonded like a family. 

I liked his choice. Dima became organized and athletically fit. He set goals and achieved them. My son was inspired by teamwork and fraternal relations between the service members. 

On February 24, at 5:45 a.m., my son called. He said that the war had begun and that all the cities of Ukraine were being bombed. He asked me to call all our friends and relatives and go down to the shelter...

It was a shock to me. We agreed not to panic, but to act quickly and get in touch later...

From the first days of the war, Dima was in Mariupol. They held the enemy back and helped people with food, medicine, and water. When Putin's people deliberately gathered people ostensibly for evacuation, and then brutally fired shells and bombs at them, Azov went around the city and asked them not to believe the Russians and hide in a shelter. Those who did not believe in the Azovs and waited for the evacuation were shot... My son said that it is awful and inhumane to kill innocent people and children...

On March 1, Mariupol was surrounded and the Azovs moved to the territory of Azovstal. There was almost no connection, but we sent each other messages. SMS were short: “Alive + How are you, how’s my dear sister, be careful!!! I love you!"

On February 25, I went to work as the conductor of the Kyiv-Uzhhorod evacuation train.

I worked for 10 days, then had a couple of days back home (in Malyn, Zhytomyr region), where I live, which was also hellish), and then went back again to evacuate people. I didn’t have to go to work, but I had to help other people at such a terrible time.

When my son was at Azovstal, it became scarier and more infernal there every day. AND there were many dead and wounded. Food ran out and there was no drinking water. The soldiers gave their food to the women with children, who also hid at the plant. There was never any reception. Every second I waited for some news from Dima. He always held up well and said that they were all "good," but in fact there was horror... It was incredibly difficult for them, but they are soldiers and have no right to surrender ...

The defenders of Azovstal and Dima were "evacuated" from the plant on May 17-20. It was an order of the president of Ukraine: "save the lives of the military," because there were too many dead and severely wounded... When I learned about it and saw Dima in a Russian public group ALIVE!!!, I was happy beyond words.

Now they are in captivity. What is happening with them? How are they? Are they kept there in humane conditions? Are they being tortured?... We don't know. We very much hope for the Red Cross, for the world community, for Ukrainian leadership to make them RELEASE OF OUR HEROES FROM CAPTIVITY! Because THEY protect THEIR FAMILIES, THEIR LAND, AND THEIR UKRAINIAN PEOPLE!!!