Exchange or captivity: what will become of the Azovstal fighters?

Around 260 Ukrainian defenders of the Azov steel plant in Mariupol are in Russian captivity. Ukraine is now hoping for a prisoner exchange – Russia rejects it.

Rescue or Surrender? Many people in Ukraine are now asking this question in view of the developments surrounding the Azov steel plant in Mariupol. Because late Monday evening began what the soldiers trapped there always wanted to avoid: Hundreds left the steelworks, but not in the direction of Ukraine, but on the territory of the Russian-controlled so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.

Injured soldiers were taken away in buses. A Russian reporter at the scene said about 50 wounded were being taken to the Novoazovsk district hospital for medical treatment.

Russia rejects exchange

According to consistent reports, more than 200 other soldiers have been taken to the village of Olenivka near Donetsk. There is a prison camp there, which Ukrainian officials have referred to in the past as a concentration camp. According to Ukrainian information, an exchange of prisoners had been agreed.

However, after the Ukrainian fighters were captured, the head of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, spoke out against a “general exchange of prisoners”. He described the Ukrainian fighters as “Nazi criminals” – these were not subject to exchange, the Duma chief said at a plenary session on Tuesday. “These are war criminals and we must do everything we can to bring them to justice.”

According to Russian reports, the “interrogation of prisoners of war” has already begun. In recent weeks, the soldiers have always refused to put themselves in Russian hands. They fear being tortured or even killed in captivity.

“Important time gained”

Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Anna Malyar announced that thanks to the Mariupol defenders, important time was gained to form reserves, regroup forces and receive help from partners. In addition, Malyar said that “the defenders of Mariupol fully performed all the tasks assigned by the commanders. Unfortunately, we do not have the opportunity to solve the Azovstal blockade militarily”.

The most important task is to save the lives of the soldiers, said Malyar. Relatives in particular had put pressure on the Ukrainian government in the past few weeks. It is more important to save the men than to give them posthumous awards, a wife said at a press conference. This is exactly what the Supreme Military Command ordered on Monday to the commanders of the units locked in the steelworks, the Ukrainian General Staff announced.

The commander of the Azov regiment, Denis Prokopenko, had spoken critically in advance. He said “every decision, every plan, every action must be questioned”. Critical thinking always raised doubts in his head – “Doubts about the correctness of the decisions made. That has never stopped me from always insisting on my point of view”.

“Ukrainian soldiers surrendered”

In Russian Telegram channels, the events are considered a success. The Ukrainian soldiers surrendered, it said. Russian commentators describe what Ukrainians say is an evacuation as “Ukraine’s biggest psychological defeat in recent weeks.” There was talk of a “perfect finale” and of “humiliated faces that recently begged for ‘rescue’ and are now begging for mercy”.

Lavrov: “Solving problems as we see them”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had insisted on negotiations for all these years and had been ignored. That’s why you will now “solve problems, depending on how we see them”.

Lavrov emphasized that Russia is always ready “to solve humanitarian problems, as happened yesterday when, thanks to our military and its local initiatives, hundreds of wounded were brought out of Azovstal.” These are precisely the principles that underlie the actions of the Russian army.