Hospital at Azovstal during defence of Mariupol. PHOTOS
On 20 May 2022, Ukrainian troops finally left the territory of Azovstal, which remained the last line of defence for Ukrainian troops in the destroyed city of Mariupol. We are showing the realities of this defence from the very epicentre of it with the help of photos taken inside Azovstal by Asan Isenadzhiyev, a combat medic with the Azov Regiment.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Radio Liberty.
"The smell of blood, amputated limbs, pus, faeces, urine, sweat... And huge humidity. Because at least 300 people breathe in one room in a huge basement at the same time," Asan Isenadzhiyev says about the hospital in one of Azovstal's bomb shelters. There was a lack of space, medicine, food, antiseptics - everything was missing. At the same time, the hospital was regularly shelled by Russian troops.
In the centre of this photo is combat medic Asan Isenadzhiyev. He left Azovstal in May 2022 with the last Ukrainian units remaining at the besieged plant. Together with other fighters, he was imprisoned in a colony in Olenivka and survived the bombing of a barracks with prisoners. On 31 December 2022, Asan was exchanged.
In this photo, fighters from the Vyshnia, Sprat and Hryan battalions (from left to right) pose with him. They broke through to the besieged Mariupol by helicopter. Of the three, only Vyshnia survived - he was also captured by Russia and returned to the army after an exchange. "Sprat and Hryan died in Mariupol in the spring of 2022.
A military hospital in one of Azovstal's bomb shelters. Asan says that sometimes the number of wounded here reached half a thousand.
This soldier died on the territory of Azovstal. He was seriously injured when he came under fire from the Russian army. Despite all the efforts of the doctors, he could not be saved.
According to Asan, the soldiers were dying, among other things, because there was a lack of medicines and antiseptics.
In the hospital, several hundred wounded were lying "literally on top of each other". Their clothes were soaked in blood, some of them were wearing the belongings of dead soldiers. Bandages were boiled or white sheets were cut. Antiseptics were diluted with water.
The couple from Azov's medical service found themselves together at the besieged plant. When Maksym was seriously injured, Alla stayed by her husband's side and personally cared for him.
Officer Renat Musayev with a serious eye injury. Asan recalls: at the time, they did not assume that the soldier would not survive. The evacuation helicopter was unable to get to the besieged Mariupol. However, the soldier not only survived, but also went through captivity, exchange and rehabilitation and later returned to the National Guard.
