In Azovstal, the last fighters are still resisting the Russians despite great difficulties

With ammunition and food and poor living conditions declining, the last Ukrainian fighters rooted in the Azovstal factory are still fighting as the Russian military tightens its grip on this last resistance in Mariupol in the southeast.

Read moreSurvivors at the Assoustal factory in Mariupol tell of their ordeal: the story of a special envoy. Figaro

Details of life inside and the fighting going on were provided by the military nurse Yevgenia Titarenko, whose husband, a member of the Azov Regiment, and his colleagues are still in the factory. “Many players are in a state of anxiety. They were injured and there was no medicine“, Evgenia explains, he was able to maintain contact with his relatives inside.”There is also a shortage of food and water“, She says.”I will fight to the endHer husband, Mikhailo, wrote in an SMS that the AFP had been consulted.

Bodies rot due to lack of refrigeration system

For several weeks, Mariupol was almost completely under Russian control. Only the massive Azovstel Steelworks escaped from him, the Russian army relentlessly attacked, and carried out large-scale attacks on the ground in the guise of violent wars. “The militants have already said goodbye to their wives. A man said to his wife, ‘Don’t cry, we will come home no matter what: whether alive or dead.’Says 34-year-old Evgenia. According to her, the chances of seeing them evicted are slim.

The nurse describes a chaotic situation within the factory’s tunnels, with soldiers fighting as civilians and corpses move through the maze of underground galleries dating back to Soviet times.

Read moreWar in Ukraine: Key strategic issues for the capture of Mariupol

Despite the horror on the austere site, some people could not bear to be outside. Rolana Pondarenko, 54, has a dozen friends among members of the Azov regiment. With his son, he was one of the first people to join the battalion in 2014. Since then, Rolana has learned that her boyfriend was killed in mid-April. “They put him in a black bag and his body rotted“, He told AFP by phone from Germany, where he has been living for a year for medical reasons.”And he’s not the only one being in the case. There are hundreds!“.

But even after losing her son, Rolana continues to support the remaining Ukrainian fighters facing Russian artillery and aircraft gun power. Every day, he sends text messages adorned with emoticons to boost the morale of the troops.

Some have lost15 to 20 kg“When the food is very scarce, warn Rolana.”I want to be by their side now“, She adds between two cries.”If I die there, it will be with my family“.

See also – Gelensky says ‘diplomatic options’ are in place to save Mariupol Steelworks soldiers