The final stage of the defense of Mariupol unfolded between May 18 and 20, 2022.
For nearly three months, fighters of the “Azov” Regiment, the 36th Marine Brigade, and units of the Ukrainian Navy, State Border Guard Service, National Police, National Guard, and Air Force defended the besieged city despite complete encirclement and overwhelming Russian superiority in manpower, air power, and firepower.
According to some estimates, between 3,500 and 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers, police officers, and volunteers defended Mariupol against more than 20,000 Russian troops backed by full air support. Failing to capture the city quickly, Russian forces began systematically bombing residential areas, leveling entire districts and killing an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 civilians.
On May 16, the evacuation of Mariupol’s defenders from their final stronghold – the sprawling Azovstal steel plant – into Russian captivity began under a preliminary agreement. Russian forces had failed to seize the complex, but mounting numbers of wounded troops, dwindling medical supplies, and an order from Kyiv to preserve the lives of the defending troops forced the remaining units to lay down their arms.
Among them was a fighter with the call sign “SP,” an officer and deputy company commander who had lived in Mariupol long before Russia’s full-scale invasion and joined the city’s defense on the first day of Russia’s assault.
In an interview, he recounts the final days before the fall of Mariupol, including the frontline reality and the civilians he encountered amid constant Russian bombardments.
Kyiv Post: How did you join Azov?
SP: I joined like this: My friends from Dnipro joined “Azov” in its early days, back in 2014. And together with another one of my best friends from Dnipro, we decided in 2015 to join our friends. And then the three-month training began.
You were already training under the new methodology, as I understand it.
When I joined back then, that training methodology didn’t exist yet. The level wasn’t that good. It developed later. Then there were sergeant courses, which I attended in 2017.
I completed them as a sergeant in accordance with NATO-style standards. In 2016, the Yevhen Konovalets School was created. And I went through the second course.
As of 2022, what were you doing when the defense of Mariupol began, effectively from the first day of the full-scale invasion?
At that time, after the Svitlodarsk Bulge… I returned to the permanent deployment point in Mariupol and was engaged in anti-landing defense measures. There was a battalion rotation system there.
In the first month, the first battalion was responsible for anti-landing defense; in the second month, the second battalion. And so they formed a combined group and practiced anti-landing defense.
“At that time, I had property in the city of Mariupol, a fiancée, and some kind of life I was building before 2022.”
And what position did you hold then?
Deputy commander of the third company of the first battalion.
Did you understand how serious things were when, in December and January, reports started coming in about the preparations, the buildup, and the formation of Russian military units?
It wasn’t the first time. It had already happened before in 2017 and 2018. We trained, practiced… Our official position as a state was that there would be no war.
One guy, who unfortunately is still in captivity, pointed out certain markers to me. Certain markers that showed it would happen. But I believed it would happen back then. And at that time, I had property in the city of Mariupol, a fiancée, and some kind of life I was building before 2022.
And it turned out that I even managed to evacuate my fiancée from there with the help of a friend and brother-in-arms. At the time of the invasion, my fiancée was in Dnipro, which allowed me to focus normally on the war instead of thinking about how to save her from the city.
From your point of view as a junior officer, how did the defense of Mariupol unfold?
From the outside, everything looked apocalyptic. Literally within two days, the Russians entered and cut off the approaches from the north, meaning they surrounded it very quickly.
That’s how it was, unfortunately. Our battalion was responsible for the Left Bank district. So we took up defense there. Of course, war is a system… a combination of units that have a goal. But infantry tasks were the closest to me.
“Civilians had to cook food at building entrances, near the entrances, over fires.”
Why was Mariupol able to hold out for so long? We watched from Kyiv and were simply astonished.
In reality, almost every day involved extremely brutal fighting with titanic efforts from the personnel carrying out the tasks assigned to them.
Thanks to the training, the personnel’s cohesion, I think, and the understanding of the circumstances at that time… I think a huge [factor was] that we tried with all our strength to do what our commanders demanded of us, commanders who assessed the situation quite adequately and promptly.
Plus, at that time we had strongly developed decentralization, meaning we had a very developed sergeant corps. Accordingly, every group commander made decisions on the spot, which effectively influenced mission accomplishment.
How did you end up at Azovstal? How did “Azov” end up at Azovstal in general? Why Azovstal?
This happened over the course of three months. It was a question of the plant.
We were looking for a place where we could continuously maintain communications and control over our battle formations. Accordingly, the Azovstal plant was one of the sufficiently fortified areas where it was possible to continuously command these forces.
And what was life like in the rear of this defense?
As far as we could see, nothing changed.
The Russian Federation burns down every territory it advances into. In Mariupol, there was no electricity, no water supply, nothing... Civilians had to cook food at building entrances, near the entrances, over fires. Plus, Russian aircraft... They rarely struck any military objects. Civilians systematically hid, but it didn’t always help.
There was one case when I was driving and came under shelling. We jumped out of the car, which at that point had all four tires blown out. I ran into the basement of a five-story building. There were around 200 civilians there – bedridden people, women, men, children, grandfathers and grandmothers. I asked how things were with food and water, and they said everything was terrible, that it was difficult to leave the basement because enemy artillery was [hitting] the district very actively.
I told them, listen, there are stores nearby destroyed by bombardment, you need to go out, take food from them, because soon you won’t have any food left. Let your men go out and get supplies, because people have already taken almost everything. You need to do something! Because we do not have enough people to defend the city, so we can’t really help you with humanitarian aid.
“I don’t know what happened to them afterward.”
Later, the shelling stopped. I returned to the headquarters of the first battalion and asked for food for these people… for some reason, that district was being heavily hit by artillery and aviation – I asked why, and at headquarters, they told me that probably many phone signals were being detected there, so the Russians thought there were many military personnel there.
I loaded as much food into the car as I could. Brought it back, and at that moment artillery started covering the area again. And once again, we had to run from the vehicle.
We immediately grabbed the food, bottles of water, canned meat and everything that was there. And under fire, we carried it into the basement of the building. When I ran in, I realized I had entered another basement entrance in the neighboring building, one that looked exactly the same, but it was different. I ran in there and saw another 200 civilians sitting there. And I said, wow, I brought food for your neighbors. Listen, we’ll leave it here for you, please. I understand this is just a drop in the ocean for you, but please share it with them.
I don’t know what happened to them afterward.
What was Azovstal like? As I understand it, you mostly had to spend time underground somewhere.
Yes, there were ruins there, but of the three months I spent, I was only at Azovstal for the last month, when we moved through depots and railways, and our positions were under the bridge.
During the last month, I was already at our company’s command post. Before that, I was in the battle formations with my personnel. And at certain moments, I was in shelters – when it was necessary to deliver or evacuate the wounded. During the last month, I tried to help in all [manners], both by carrying out tactical combat fire missions and by supporting logistics. Well, it was a huge underground city where you moved through tunnels to get from point A to point B, C and D. Like an anthill, basically.
But as I understand, this underground city was something the Russians couldn’t reach. Although they bombed it brutally.
In the last days, they already managed to hit the bunkers. There were losses. Personnel losses. So it was really only a matter of time. Because they were dropping very powerful aerial bombs there.
One-and-a-half ton bombs?
Even bigger. Three-ton (3,000-kg) bombs were used there, as far as I remember.
If my memory serves me right. They dominated so completely that they even brought in “Grad” systems and fired them directly. They used many means there. I simply cannot find another phrase except for the “titanic” efforts by the personnel. Because our people did things that were simply unimaginable.
There was one case involving a guy... An armored group went out with an anti-tank [Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon] NLAW to destroy a tank that was firing at positions. Unfortunately, the tank hit these respected men. Then one of the guys from our company took the NLAW, listened on the radio for instructions on how to use it, and while running around looking for a position from which to hit the tank, he was listening to instructions on how to operate it. And he destroyed it!
Why were the Russians striking and destroying infrastructure?
Because they couldn’t advance “through the fields,” so they advanced through populated areas, where they were more successful than in open terrain. That’s all.
How did the exit from Azovstal happen? How did you learn about it?
Well, how can I put it? Before such a decision was made, that decision was announced to us. By order, we were surrendering into captivity. Under some preliminary agreements that had been announced at the time.
Stay tuned for part two of this interview, where “SP” discusses the surrender process, life in captivity – including how time passes while imprisoned – and life after captivity as Russia’s war rages on.