The wives of Ukrainian servicemen stationed at the blocked Azovstal plant in Mariupol gave a press conference to talk about the state of the military and their work on the information front.
- The women are in regular contact with men, although they are less and less able to connect to the internet.
- The occupiers continue to bomb, which means that the fighters almost do not go up.
- Coming to the surface, the military tries to find water and food. Currently, the fighters are forced to drink one glass of technical water a day.
- Azovstal is in a critical situation with medicines.
- The mood among the military is quite pessimistic, the fighters are preparing for the "last battle" because they do not really believe in a diplomatic solution to this issue.
- Unblocking is a long time, and people die there every day.
"The main role of Mariupol in this war is to gather a huge number of forces so that our troops can liberate Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv. We do not know whether the Russians would not have taken Kyiv if not for Mariupol, if not for Azov. We believe in our government and trust it. We just ask you to continue to focus all your attention, all your efforts, all the political and diplomatic pressure there. Thatʼs all we ask for," said one of the speakers.
- The defenders of Mariupol have done enough to be evacuated, they deserve to live.
- The number of wounded is constantly changing, as some die, others are added due to shelling and bombing.
- First of all, it is necessary to take out the wounded, who may die the next day. But the wives insist on the evacuation of absolutely everyone. Today we will take out all the wounded, and tomorrow there will be another 200.
- Antibiotics are available in very limited quantities for particularly difficult operations. People with amputations lie without them, without painkillers. People with serious injuries simply suffer from pain. Limbs are amputated even with minor injuries and without painkillers — just cut live.
On May 13, the second, third, and fifth presidents of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko, appealed to the international community to help evacuate the Ukrainian military and civilians from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. Russian troops have destroyed Azovstalʼs second underground hospital.
Wounded defenders have a very difficult situation — even the lightly wounded have to amputate limbs or die slowly. The hospital was in a bomb shelter, killing 10 people and injuring both military and civilians.