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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Isobel Koshiw in Kyiv

‘Surrender is not an option’: Azov battalion commander in plea for help to escape Mariupol

Activists and relatives of the defenders of Mariupol demonstrate in Kyiv calling on the Ukrainian government for help
Activists and relatives of soldiers trapped in Mariupol protest in Kyiv calling on the Ukrainian government for help. Photograph: Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

Members of Ukraine’s Azov battalion trapped inside Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant have said they fear they will be killed if captured by Russian forces, as they pleaded with Ukrainian authorities to help arrange their extraction.

Speaking to the media from inside the besieged steelworks, an Azov commander and lieutenant, looking gaunt and pale, said they had defended the city for the people of Ukraine and the rest of the world and needed a third party to negotiate their exit whether by land or sea.

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