Ukraine's Azovstal soldiers recall Mariupol siege three years on

For almost three months, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers held out against Russian attacks in the bunkers and tunnels of the Azovstal steel plant, becoming a symbol of resistance against Russian aggression. 

Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, around half a million people lived in Mariupol, the biggest Ukrainian city on the Sea of Azov and the main port serving the industries and agriculture of eastern Ukraine. 

Russia had already tried to occupy Mariupol when it invaded Ukraine for the first time in 2014. The city was under Russian control for two months before Ukrainian forces took it back. 

Ten years later, Moscow attacked Mariupol again, trying to establish a land corridor between the unilaterally annexed Crimea and occupied parts of eastern Ukraine. 

Anatolii Basenko joined the “Dnipro-1” volunteer battalion in 2014 to defend his native Donetsk region when Russia invaded Ukraine for the first time.

Seven years later, he was discharged and moved to Poland. But when the full-scale invasion began, he returned to defend his country. “I made my final decision after hearing from my family about the attacks on Kyiv,” Basenko told Euronews. 

He had just come home from a night shift on 24 February when he took a call from home.

The war was already raging: rockets were flying over Kyiv and the entire country was under attack.

“I just said, ‘I understand’, hung up, went into work, handed in my notice and bought a bus ticket,” Basenko recalled.

Two days later, he arrived in Kyiv, joined the Azov unit, and was given a weapon. “The task was to defend the capital from Russian forces,” he explained.

At the same time, Basenko was following the dramatic developments in Mariupol. Russia was relentlessly attacking the city. Thousands of civilians sheltered in basements for weeks, without food or water.

“I kept saying they needed to break the blockade, that help was needed, that something had to be done,” Basenko recalled. Stuck in Kyiv without a role, he couldn’t bear to sit idly by.

Then the call came, and everything happened fast: an interview, a trip to Dnipro, and a helicopter flight to Mariupol.

“Before the flight, they warned us: ‘You’re brave, but we don’t know how we’re going to get you out of there’.” But for Basenko, there was no question — he could not just stand by and watch.

Ukraine’s defence intelligence organised a daring mission of helicopter raids to Azovstal.

There were seven flights involving more than a dozen army Mi-8 helicopters. They had to fly at the minimum height, below the tree line, not to be detected and shot by Russian air defences—”nap-of-the-earth” in aviation lingo. 

Thanks to the helicopter missions, Ukrainian forces managed to evacuate 64 wounded and deliver 30 tonnes of cargo. During the operation, three aircraft were lost due to intense enemy anti-aircraft fire, but the mission was accomplished. 

Ukraine also sent reinforcements: 72 volunteers to help defend Mariupol, including Basenko.

He still remembers the strikingly positive mood among his comrades. The people in Mariupol could feel that the rest of the country hadn’t forgotten them, he said. “It gave people courage to see that soldiers from Kyiv had been flown in, even though they knew full well they probably wouldn’t make it back,” he added.

Among the defenders was Vladyslav Zhayvoronok, a young fighter from the Azov Regiment. At the end of March, he and his unit moved into Azovstal. At first, the steelworks served as a base for rest, resupply, and reorganisation, but it soon became the last stronghold.

A radio project was launched in the underground bunkers — Bunker.FM — which allowed those inside to stay connected and discuss missions despite the information blackout.

“The last two weeks of defending Mariupol and Azovstal seemed strangely easy to me,” Zhayvoronok said.

“I had already accepted my death and just wanted to die doing my duty. It’s as simple as that. Soldiers will understand,” he recalled.

“When you realise that this is it, that more than half of your friends are dead, you know you’re next – and you feel completely calm.”

“I saw my best friend’s body in a black bag. I was totally calm, because I knew: today it was him, tomorrow it’s me. Or maybe in five minutes,” he pointed out.

Retreat to Azovstal

During the retreat to Azovstal, Basenko’s unit tried to cross the Kalmius River using improvised rafts. But not everyone made it to the other side.

Of the four rafts, only three reached their destination, and Basenko’s group came under fire. On 15 April, he was severely wounded.

A grenade exploded right next to him, tearing through his left leg. His fellow soldiers quickly applied a tourniquet.

Of the 10 soldiers in his group, four escaped uninjured, three were wounded, and three were killed. Those who survived made it to the Azovstal compound late that night.

Basenko’s first question to the medic was: “When will they cut off my leg?”

The amputation was carried out the next morning at dawn. A second operation followed due to an infection and the onset of kidney failure. For almost a week, he lay flat on his back, barely able to move.

That he’s still alive today, he calls a miracle. “I don’t know where the strength came from,” Basenko said. “It’s just a miracle. A simple miracle.”

Zhayvoronok was also seriously injured when his group was hit by an anti-tank missile. 

“I lost my leg, my vision temporarily in one eye, suffered multiple shrapnel injuries – but they couldn’t kill me”, Zhayvoronok told Euronews.

“A medic, Nina, refused to put my body in a body bag. She decided to keep trying to resuscitate me, and it worked. That’s why I’m alive.”

On 16 May 2022, the Azovstal defenders were ordered to surrender. Basenko was taken into Russian captivity along with the rest. 

At the time, the Ukrainian government pledged it would do “everything necessary” to rescue an unnamed number of soldiers. But their fate initially remained uncertain. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to say whether the captives would be treated as prisoners of war or criminals.

About six weeks later, on 29 June, Basenko was released in a prisoner exchange. “I was happy that I would return home and see my loved ones, my family,” he recalled. “That’s why I felt euphoric.”

Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers remain in Russian captivity

But not everyone was as fortunate. 485 Azovstal defenders have been released in POW exchanges since 2022, and around 850 remain in Russian prisons. Thousands more Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are still in Russian captivity. 

Ukrainian prosecutor general stated that nine out of 10 Ukrainian POWs are subjected to torture and abuse.

It’s an issue Basenko feels gets too little attention in the West. “The world needs to know how Russia is really treating Ukrainian prisoners of war. I don’t think the West fully understands the crimes Russia is committing,” he said.

Basenko explains that he did not allow his experiences to turn him cynical or disheartened. “It’s not as bad as it sometimes seems. We’ve lived through worse. That’s why we have no right to give up or simply carry on as if nothing happened. We have to fight for those still in captivity and remember those who died,” he said.

And he has nothing but the kindest words for his compatriots who fought in the standoff at Azovstal.

“I want people to know that the boys and girls who defended the city risked their most valuable possession – their lives – so that there would be peace in Ukraine and the war wouldn’t reach other major cities. That’s what it means to make a sacrifice for others.”

“Mariupol will always remain a beautiful, picturesque city in my heart. One day, I want to return, to our Mariupol, under the Ukrainian flag,” Basenko concluded.