Ukraine recovers steel plant siege bodies from last-ditch stand in Mariupol
- Russia has begun to turn over bodies of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks, site of last-ditch stand in city which finally fell in May
- It’s not clear how many deceased – thought to be part of a swap of troops’ bodies with Russia – remain at plant
Russia has begun turning over the bodies of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks, the fortresslike plant in the destroyed city of Mariupol where their last-ditch stand became a symbol of resistance against Moscow’s invasion.
Dozens of fighters’ bodies recovered from the bombed-out mill’s now Russian-occupied ruins have been transferred to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where DNA testing is under way to identify the remains, said Maksym Zhorin, a military commander and former leader of the Azov Regiment.
The Azov Regiment was among the Ukrainian units that defended the factory for nearly three months before surrendering.
It is not clear how many bodies might still remain at the plant, which was relentlessly pounded by surrounding Russian forces from the air and sea.
The fighters’ dogged defence of the steel mill frustrated the Kremlin’s objective of quickly capturing Mariupol and tied down Russian forces in the strategic port city. The defenders were hailed as heroes by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The last Azovstal holdouts, more than 2,400 fighters in all, finally relinquished the plant in May, marching out without weapons and carrying their wounded. The fate of the survivors in Russian hands is shrouded in uncertainty.
The recovery of the fighters’ remains from the Azovstal ruins has not been announced by the Ukrainian government. But relatives of soldiers killed at the plant discussed the process with Associated Press.
The Ukrainian government’s Ministry for Reintegration of Occupied Territories on Saturday announced the first officially confirmed swap of troops’ bodies since the war began. It said the two sides exchanged 320 bodies in total, each getting back 160 sets of remains.
Russia tries to conquer Sievierodonetsk. Is it the next Mariupol?
The exchange took place on Thursday on the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine. Parts of that region are under Russian control, as is Mariupol, farther to the east on the Sea of Azov.
But the ministry’s three-paragraph statement gave no details about where the bodies were recovered from and did not mention Azovstal. Contacted on Monday for further comment, the Ukrainian ministry provided no other immediate details. Russian officials have not commented on the swap.
The Avoz Regiment is a National Guard unit that grew out of a group called the Azov Battalion, formed in 2014 as one of many volunteer brigades that arose to fight Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Azov Battalion drew initial fighters from far-right circles.
06:06
100 days of war: What has happened in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion?
Zhorin, the former Azov Regiment leader now co-commanding a Kyiv-based military unit, confirmed that remains recovered from Azovstal were among those exchanged in the swap.
The brother of an Azov fighter missing and feared dead in the steelworks told the AP that at least two trucks of bodies from Azovstal have been transferred to a military hospital in Kyiv for identification.
Viacheslav Drofa said the remains of his elder brother, Dmitry Lisen, did not appear to be among those recovered so far.
Bodies were recovered last week from the mill and some were severely burned, he said.
The mother of a soldier killed in a Russian air strike on the plant said the Azov Regiment telephoned her and said her son’s body might be among those that have been transferred to Kyiv. The mother did not want her or her son to be identified by name, saying she feared that discussing the recovery process might disrupt it.
Ukraine’s richest man to sue Russia for billions of dollars
She tearfully referred to her son as a hero and said she wants to be able to lay his remains to rest.
“I’m just waiting for the body of my son,” she said. “It’s important for me to bury him in our Ukrainian land.”
In other developments Monday, Ukraine’s efforts to resist Russia’s invasion loomed large over D-Day commemorations in France, where the 78th anniversary of the Normandy invasion was marked.
“The fight in Ukraine is about honouring these veterans of World War II,” Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the American Cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer, overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy.
He added: “It’s about maintaining the so-called global rules-based international order that was established by the dead who are buried here at this cemetery.”
02:24
Civilians take shelter in eastern Ukraine as fighting with Russian invasion forces intensifies
American D-Day veteran Charles Shay, 97, was at Omaha Beach to mark the anniversary of the June 6, 1944, landings and pay tribute to those who fell that day. Asked about the war raging on the European continent, Shay said, “It is a very sad situation.”
“In 1944 I landed on these beaches, and we thought we’d bring peace to the world. But it’s not possible,” he added.
Russia, meanwhile, continued to pummel targets in Ukraine.
Warplanes fired long-range missiles to destroy a plant on the edge of the town of Lozova in the northeastern Kharkiv region that was repairing armoured vehicles, said Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov.
Russian aircraft hit 73 areas of Ukrainian troops and equipment, while the Russian artillery struck 431 military targets, Konashenkov said. His claims could not be independently verified.
UK to give Ukraine long-range rocket systems after Putin warnings
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai said fierce fighting continued in the city of Sievierodonetsk, at the epicentre of the Russian offensive in the east.
He described the combat situation as “quite dynamic”, adding that the Ukrainian forces had lost some of the gains they made over the weekend but were holding their positions in the city’s industrial zone.
“Our defenders managed to conduct a counteroffensive and free nearly half of the city, but the situation has worsened again now,” Haidai said.
“The shelling of Sievierodonetsk has intensified, [the Russians] are destroying everything in line with their scorched-earth tactics,” he said.
