By KYIV. May 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Families of servicemen of the Azov regiment appealed to the world community, first of all to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with an appeal to facilitate the procedure for the extraction of Ukrainian fighters from Mariupol.
"My son is also in Azovstal in hell. They’re holding the line right now. It’s not just a war, it’s a massacre. We demand the extraction of our fighters together with the wounded and fallen brothers. There is a world practice. Fighters are withdrawn to a third country, neutral. We insist on such a decision. We have launched a petition with the launch of the extraction procedure. So far, it has gained one and a half million votes," Yevhen Sukharnikov, the father of one of the Azov fighters, said at a briefing at the Ukraine Media Center.
"The society supports this decision, only the organization is missing. We understand that Turkey may be such a country. I appeal to President Erdogan as a lord, as a father – save our fighters. You have practice. Direct the civilian fleet. We understand all the risks, but this is our only chance. Either we take a risk, or we watch the whole world as they are being killed there," he added.
Natalia Zarytska, the wife of a fighter of the Azov regiment, called on all countries of the world to help rescue Ukrainian fighters blocked on the territory of the Azovstal plant in Maruipol.
"Russia attaches the label of neo-Nazis to our fighters and under this pretext is trying to destroy our relatives. There is no time. If the world has allowed such a monster as Putin to grow, then it must take responsibility for his destruction," she insists.
"I received a message from my husband that the Red Cross and the UN were only interested in civilians. And my husband asks: "Are we, the fighters, waste material? We were helping and supporting civilians, rescued them, shared products. Are we really nobody," she said.
As reported, Deputy Prime Minister for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereschuk said that the Ukrainian side is negotiating on the issue of rescuing fighters from Azovstal, the government is working out various options. First of all, we are talking about the exchange of Ukrainian seriously wounded soldiers from Azovstal for Russian prisoners of war.
