Damage to Azovstal plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday 27 May. (Leon Klein / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
Two women and a girl from Ukrainian troops captured by Russian forces or missing after defending the Azovstal factory in a long siege told CNN they had little or no information about the whereabouts of their loved ones.
“I have not been in contact with my husband lately or received any information about him,” said Anna Ivleva, the wife of Anton, a sailor who was seriously injured in Azovstal. “The last time we spoke was on April 13. And then his brothers-in-arms texted me that he was still alive.”
Ivleva said Ukrainian government officials had contacted him, but added that “there was no information” on where Azovstal’s fighters were kept and under what conditions. She holds out hope that her husband will be alive, even though she is in captivity.
“Everyone, families, women and mothers of the Marines, we are attached to each other, we are always in touch 24 hours a day,” he said. “We always exchange any available news, we are like a family.”
The besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol fell under full Russian control earlier this month with the surrender of Azovstal, the last bastion of the city’s Ukrainian defense. It is unclear how many Ukrainian troops are now in Russian custody, but the Russian military says more than 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered. Russian state propaganda has demonized Azovstal’s defenders as “Nazis,” raising serious concerns about how they might be treated in captivity.
A woman named Yana helped organize events in Kyiv in support of Azovstal fighters. Her boyfriend is a Marine who was in Azovstal. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns.
I didn’t hear anything from him, “he said.” The last time we were in contact was on May 11. “
He said the Ukrainian government had not provided any information on where his boyfriend might be.
“My boyfriend ‘s mother was contacted by the ICRC [the International Committee of the Red Cross]I don’t remember exactly when, “he said.” They just told him he was alive, that’s all. “
The ICRC has been involved in the registration of fighters leaving the Azovstal plant since 17 May, in part to help prisoners of war stay in touch with their families. The organization has been working in Ukraine since 2014, when the war began in the Donbas region of Ukraine.
Another wife of an Azovstal defender, Tetiana, said her husband managed to call her from an unknown number after the surrender and said some of her comrades were detained in a city of separatist-controlled Donetsk Oblast. CNN agreed not to disclose his last name for the same reasons.
“His voice was calm and confident,” he said. “He said the conditions in which they were staying were good. He said it might be possible in the future to allow them to receive some packages.”
Tetiana said she talked to her husband for about 10 minutes and that her husband said she would try to call back.
“That’s all, no more calls or news,” he said.