A video released by the Azov Regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine is said to show women and children taking shelter in underground premises at the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol. The regiment, dominated by nationalists, is among those trapped in the steel mill and caught up in a Russian blockade.
Some people have been in the tunnels under the steel mill for up to two months. “We want to see a peaceful sky, we want to breathe fresh air,” says a woman in the video released on Saturday. “You just have no idea what it means for us to just eat, drink some sweetened tea. That’s lucky for us,” she explains.
EPA
A girl in the video says she and her relatives left home on February 27. Since then they have seen “neither the sky nor the sun”. “We really want to get out of here safely so that nobody gets hurt,” she pleads.
The deputy commander of the Azov regiment, Svyatoslav Palamar, told the AP news agency that the video was taken on Thursday. The content could not be independently verified. According to Ukrainian information, around 1,000 civilians, including women and children, are trapped along with Ukrainian troops located there.