“We are extremely short of water and food supplies. I can not say for sure how much is left … but I can assure you that we are saving, we are very scared without water and food, and especially ammunition,” said Palamar, who is inside the factory, he said. “If (the worst) gets worse and we run out of food, we will catch birds and do everything we can to stay stable,” he added. For weeks, people watched in horror as Russia continued its attack on the huge steel plant. The contempt of those who remain has become a symbol of the country’s unwavering resistance against an enemy that far exceeds them. But Russia says its forces have reached the outskirts of the plant and are carrying out a “step-by-step clearing mission”, although Palamar says Ukrainian defense is holding on for the time being. His fighters repulsed multiple attacks and killed five Russian soldiers, he said.
On Sunday, about 100 civilians were evacuated from the factory. But another 100 are believed to remain, including 20 children, Palamar told Reuters on Monday. It is not clear how many fighters are still sheltered there.
Those evacuated on Sunday left the factory on streets full of rubble and unrecognizable neighborhoods in the bombed Mariupol. Pictures released by Reuters on Sunday show some women, children and the elderly getting off buses in a white tent area in the Russian-controlled town of Bezimenne – about 16 miles east of Mariupol – accompanied by Russian tanks. decorated with the letter Z and United Nations vehicles. Some people get stuck in their bags with their belongings. One holds a carrier cat. Soldiers with insignificant fatigue, carrying rifles, patrol the area. One of the displaced, a woman who worked at the Azovstal steel plant, said she had spent weeks hiding in the labyrinth of Soviet-era warehouses under the plant. She said she had previously tried to escape from Mariupol via an evacuation corridor, but that relentless bombing had stopped her. “I was even afraid to go out and breathe some fresh air,” she said. “I can not believe it. Two months of darkness.” Following the evacuation of these civilians, the steel plant came under fire again on Sunday night, according to a Ukrainian soldier in Mariupol who spoke to Ukrainian television. No further scheduled evacuation for Monday took place. Palamar said the plant was now under constant airstrikes by Russian forces despite the remaining civilians. “The blows continue unabated, it was artillery with tanks, artillery volleyball and every three to five minutes there is aerial bombardment … the cynicism of all this is that there are still civilians fleeing the factory and yet the enemy continues to bomb it,” he said. Palamar. He said that “from now on, the whole area of ​​the factory is under our control and … we are keeping the defense”. However, it remains unclear how long he and Azov’s constitution can continue to do so. Palamar said he and his fighters could have no confidence that if they were captured by the Russians, they would be treated with respect as prisoners of war. He accused the Russians of war crimes, claiming that there was an incident in which they sent photos of a tortured Ukrainian soldier to his mother. “They do not honor these conventions and they kill and torture prisoners of war,” he said. “Just to add to that, unlike Russian soldiers, we treat prisoners of war differently.” Palamar also claimed that the Ukrainians had Russian prisoners of war with them in the factory. “In fact, we share our supplies with them … we have an officer, a tank commander and two other soldiers (who are being held) in the same conditions as us.” CNN can not independently verify Palamar’s allegations. A CNN poll in April revealed that Russian forces and allied separatist soldiers had taken Mariupol residents to a so-called “filtering center” in Bezemen, where they were recorded before being sent to Russia – many against their will. The Ukrainian government and local officials in Mariupol say tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been forcibly deported to Russian-controlled areas since the start of the war.