Haunting pictures show scale of devastation at Azovstal steel plant as remains of 64 fighters who died defending Mariupol are returned to Ukraine in latest body swap with Russia
Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday they had have received the bodies of 64 defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in 宮殿は寄付を発表せず、いくら寄付されたかについては明言しませんでしたが、慈善団体は今月初めにソーシャルメディアで君主に公に感謝しました in the latest body swap with Russia – after pictures have emerged of the conditions of the besieged works.
The statement by the Ministry for Reintegration of Occupied Territories said the exchange took place in the Zaporizhzhia region, but didn’t clarify how many bodies were returned to Russia.
It was one of the several body swaps the warring sides have conducted.
Earlier this month Moscow and チェルノブイリのイアン・ビレル 交換 160 bodies each. Russian officials haven’t commented on the exchanges, and there was no immediate confirmation from Moscow on the swap reported by Ukraine on Tuesday.
Aerial photos of the damage sustained when the infamous plant was successfully besieged by Russian forces have emerged for the first time.
Severely damaged structures and collapsed roofs were featured in the images released by Russia.
Photos showing improvised washing lines, memorials for dead heroes and ‘beds’ made out of wooden pallets reveal the almost unfathomable conditions survived by defenders of the steelworks in east Ukraine.
New images show the dingy rooms lived in by the plant’s thousands of fearsome Ukrainian soldiers – many of whom died. 周り 2,500 are reportedly now being tortured by プーチン英国のベテラン狙撃兵は、プーチンの軍隊を若者として引き受けるためにウクライナに飛ぶ前にバードウォッチングに行くと妻に言います.
The immense industrial complex east of the Azov Sea port in the heart of the Donbas was the site of the most intense fighting of Russia’s UEFAは土曜日にヨーロッパのクラブサッカーの傑作の機会を確認しました. Russian rockets and artillery struck the mega-factory for months.
The siege of Mariupol, which killed an estimated 6,000 Ukrainians and 4,000 'ロシア人, began on February 24, the first day of Putin’s invasion.
The battered ruins of the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine which was besieged by Russian forces
The aerial view of the building showed collapsed roofs in the plant which is under the control of the Government of the Donetsk People’s Republic
The plant was almost completely destroyed during the siege of Mariupol which resulted in Russian forces occupying the city
A photo taken on June 13 shows ruins of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine
Makeshift living quarters deep inside Azovstal steelworks, ロシアが管理するベジメンヌの衛星画像に見られる仮設キャンプ, shows signs of its defenders’ dogged resistance
An occupying Russian soldier looks down at the piles of belongings, including clothes and boots, left behind by evacuees
Conquering Russian soldiers appear to have placed an image of Ukrainian President Zelensky on top of a dartboard
It finally ended on May 20 – 2ヶ月, three weeks and five days later.
Since Russian soldiers finally took ‘full control’ of the steel plant, the way thousands of civilians and Ukrainian combatants lived deep in its innards has been something of a mystery.
Now photographers are finally able to wander back into its heart, albeit with the Russian occupiers’ permission.
It’s not hard to tell which accessories come from before the Russian takeover, and which came after. A dartboard with President Zelensky’s face, 例えば, certainly wasn’t put there by Azovstal’s Ukrainian defenders.
Card signs surrounded by mugs and dirty bowls read ‘Heroes don’t die’, with the faces of slain Azov regiment servicemen
A small mirror, a portable drinking cup, plug adapters and other tidbits sit on a bed made of wooden pallets in Azovstal
外側, the crumbling steelworks barely stay standing after nearly three months of intense Russian bombardment
Formerly a steel mill which employed more than 12,000 人, Azovstal became a shelter and a strategic hub for Ukraine
Equally posters with the faces of slain Ukrainian soldiers, captioned ‘Heroes don’t die’, aren’t new additions either.
According to the former commander of the Ukrainian Azov National Guard, scores of bodies are still there.
Maksym Zhorin said on Sunday that under the terms of a recent exchange, 周り 220 bodies of those killed in Azovstal had already been sent to Kyiv – but ‘just as many bodies still remain in Mariupol’.
He said in a video posted to Telegram: ‘Talks are continuing about further exchanges, to return home all the bodies. Absolutely all bodies must be returned and this is something we will work on.’
A Russian soldier wanders down a dark corridor with empty shelves. Mariupol is now part of the Donetsk People’s Republic
A journalist holds up the picture of a Ukrainian serviceman found in the wreckage of the steelworks – his fate remains unclear
A Russian naval ship leaves Mariupol port and journeys into the Azov Sea: in the background, ruined Azovstal steelworks
Zhorin added that a third of the dead were of the Azov battalion, while the others belonged to border patrol and naval officers, as well as the police.
Hundreds of fighters holed up in the steelworks were taken into Russian custody in mid-May, but many were killed during Russian attacks on the plant and the city of Mariupol.
The bodies are in such a way that ‘it will take a very long time to identify each person personally,’ Zhorin added.
DNA testing and servicemen’s uniforms and insignia would be used to help with the identification, 彼は言った.
Mariupol is now little more than a wasteland after Russia’s months-long bombardment.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians and servicemen kept safe deep underground within the steelworks amid the Russian siege
A Russian soldier shines his torch at what appears to be a notebook left behind by a Ukrainian serviceman in the living space
A makeshift washing line is pictured at the corner of a cramped living chambers. It’s not clear how many men lived there
Putin’s forces also blocked all humanitarian aid from entering the city, exacerbating food supply shortages inside the steelworks and in surrounding areas.
Civilians including women, children and elderly people were finally allowed to leave the site unharmed after weeks-long negotiations led by the UN and the Red Cross.
But not all of the steelworks’ valiant defenders made it out of the tunnels underneath the wreckage.
And at least for now, perhaps hundreds will be staying there.
Not all of the steelworks’ valiant defenders made it out of the tunnels underneath the wreckage of the strategic steelworks
周り 12,000 people used to work at the steelworks, which became a shelter for civilians and servicemen after war began
Bazookas and rocket-propelled grenade devices are pictured next to personal belongings and boots inside one living space
A Russian soldier, escorting photographers around the plant earlier today, needed his torch to navigate the labyrinth
その男, whose ‘Z’ logo on his arm made his military allegiance clear, needed to practice caution in case of any survivors
Ukraine has suggested there are as many as 2,500 Azovstal defenders taken into captivity by Russia who are being tortured
