the headquarters of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol summarized in eight photos

It is a symbol of Ukrainian military resistance. The Ukrainian soldiers held out for more than 40 days in the basements of the Azovstal iron and steel factory in Mariupol, before beginning to form themselves prisoners to the Russian soldiers. Since May 16, more than 1,900 of them, including at least 80 wounded, have surrendered, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. “In the last 24 hours, 771 fighters of the nationalist Azov regiment have surrendered”claimed Moscow, Thursday, May 19.

The last entrenched Ukrainian soldiers were ordered from kyiv to“stop defending the city”, said Friday Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov regiment, one of the Ukrainian units present in the metallurgical complex. Ukraine has also announced that it will seek to exchange Russian prisoners for fighters who have surrendered in Azovstal, but Russia has not yet given a definitive answer on the question.

Franceinfo returns in images to the siege of this emblematic steelworks, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, besieged since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The Azovstal steelworks besieged and bombarded

Ds the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Russian army set itself the objective of conquering the coastal city of Mariupol, a strategic port on the Black Sea. The bombings of the theater and of a maternity ward in the city marked the spirits, before the Azovstal steelworks became the last bastion of this city pounded relentlessly as in this image.

A siege held by the Russian army and a pro-Russian militia

Since the beginning of the invasion, the Russian army, supported by the pro-Russian militia of the self-proclaimed republic of Donetsk, partly controlled by the pro-Russians since 2014, has aimed to control the territories of Donbass. This photo illustrates the relentless siege of the Azovstal steelworks where hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have taken refuge.

Fighters who stayed for weeks in the basements of the steelworks

If the civilians, evacuated at the beginning of May, had been able to leave the city of Mariupol to join the majority of the city of Zaporijia, in Ukraine, there remained about 2,000 Ukrainian troops at the Azovstal site, according to pro-Russian separatist leader Denis Pushilin. They were entrenched in the underground galleries of the huge factory, dug during the Soviet era. The last soldiers on the scene received orders from kyiv to stop fighting on May 20.

On the side of the attackers, no assault but a blockage of the factory

On April 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his defense minister not to storm but to blockade the factory, where several Ukrainian fighters were standing.

Captured Ukrainian soldiers

On May 16, Russia announces that it has established a ceasefire around Azovstal, in order to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers. These have cbegan to surrender to the occupier. They are searched here by pro-Russian soldiers after leaving the besieged steelworks.

In recent weeks, their situation has become more critical due to a lack of food, medical supplies and ammunition. “Ukraine needs its living heroesUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.. We hope we can save the lives of our guys.”

The wounded taken care of by the Russian forces

An agreement between the two governments has been reached to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers. According to Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, 53 seriously injured soldiers have been evacuated since the arms lay-down agreement on May 16. The most seriously affected were reportedly taken to the Russian city of Novoazovsk, east of Mariupol, for treatment, while the others are being taken to Olenivka to the north.

The fate of Ukrainian prisoners remains unknown

kyiv wants to organize an exchange of prisoners of war, but the Russian authorities have announced that they consider at least some of them not as soldiers, but as neo-Nazi fighters. According to pro-Russian separatist leader Denis Pushilin, he now returns to “court” to decide the fate of “war criminals” and “nationalists”.

A feared ecological disaster in the Black Sea

The Russian bombardments have endangered the security of the Azovstal site. A technical facility holding tens of thousands of tons of concentrated hydrogen sulfide solution is threatening to burst and these dangerous chemicals could affect the Black Sea ecosystem.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko has called on Russian forces, which control the city, to allow the “immediate admission” of international experts working on behalf of the United Nations to study the situation and prevent an environmental disaster from “world class”.