The wives and mothers of Azovstal defenders are creating the Women of Steel NGO. Anyone can join it, the Mariupol City Council informed.
Among the key areas of activity is the promotion of decent conditions for prisoners. In particular, they plan to work on humanitarian issues and public control over the observance of rights, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
"Our work will be in clear coordination with the Ukrainian authorities, international human rights organizations, and allies of Ukraine. All for the sake of returning our sons, brothers, and husbands home as soon as possible, as well as respecting their rights," the organizers said.
- On May 25, the wife of Azov Regiment Commander Denys Prokopenko, Kateryna, said that the regimentʼs soldiers were being held in satisfactory conditions. At the same time, it is unknown whether the regimental commander could speak freely during the conversation.
- On May 17, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed that on the evening of May 16, the process of removing Ukrainian servicemen from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol began. More than 250 fighters were the first to leave.
- The speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation called the Ukrainian military from "Azovstal" "war criminals" and said that they should not be exchanged.
- On May 19, members of the International Committee of the Red Cross were able to visit some Ukrainian servicemen who had left the Azovstal plant in Mariupol and were in occupied Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast. The visit was confidential, details of the conditions of detention of Ukrainian defenders are not disclosed.