A name, a factory and a symbol. Azovstal, one of the largest metallurgical complexes in Europe, is now the last island of resistance in Mariupol, this southeastern Ukraine town that the Russian military claimed took control on Thursday, April 21, after weeks of bombing. The gigantic industrial estate contains 2000 Ukrainian soldiers who do not intend to surrender their weapons, but also “about 1,000 civilians, women and children”. Franceinfo takes stock of this industrial site whose fall would enable the Kremlin to definitively establish the link between Crimea, annexed in 2014, and Donbass, where the Russian military is currently concentrating its forces.
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what is the factory? Azovstal †
It is a gigantic metallurgical plant, one of the largest in Europe, stretching over 12 square kilometers. The complex ist so large that it is visible from all sides of the port city of Mariupol. Opened in 1933, Azovstal is now owned by the Metinvest group, run by Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov.
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In 2020, the factory employed 10,700 people. Before the start of the war, 5.7 million tons of iron, 6.2 million tons of steel and 4.7 million tons of rolled products were produced annually, the company’s website reports. Marioupol grew around the metallurgical complex to house the tens of thousands of families of factory workers, reports media part† It almost borders another huge metallurgical site, the Illitch combine, which was practically destroyed in early April. These two sets of factories cover almost a third of the area of the city.
“Azovstal and Illich were the economic heart of Mariupol, testifies to franceinfo Armineh, originally from the city, now a refugee in France. Almost every family had at least one worker in these factories. I myself worked for Azovstal as a translator for three or four years. The whole city lived to the rhythm of these factories. Perhaps later I will find information about many of the acquaintances who were there.†
What is the situation in and around the factory?
The Ukrainian and Russian authorities seem to agree on the figure: some 2,000 Ukrainian fighters have taken refuge in this factory in recent weeks. They are usually members of the Azov Battalion, this paramilitary group that takes its name from the Sea of Azov and which is now part of the institutionalized Ukrainian armed forces. Beside them members of the 36th naval brigade that withdrew here after defending the city. And last but not least, “foreign mercenaries” would also be present, the Russian army says. Among the Ukrainian soldiers †500 would be injured”† wrote Thursday Iryna VerechchukDeputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, op Telegram†
Opposite them, hundreds of Russian soldiers surround the complex. son BFMTV, Sergiy Taruta, Ukrainian deputy and former employee of Azovstal, put forward the number of 14,000 Russian soldiers. The Kremlin gave no details.
Are there also civilians?
Yes. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in addition to the military, “about a thousand civilians, women and children” and “hundreds injured” took refuge in this factory. On Monday, battalion commander Azov called Denis Prokopenko for help by broadcasting a video in which women and children testify who say they have been living in these shelters for weeks.
Звернення командира полку “Азов” підполковника Дениса Прокопенко до світолівиівих pic.twitter.com/3TAr9lOfVW
— (@Polk_Azov) Apr 18, 2022
In an interview on Washington Post (article in English), the commander of the 36th Brigade of the Ukrainian National Navy told the site is today isolated from the rest of the world and anyone trying to survive with the resources available. “We save water, we support each other, we help each other as much as possibledetailed Serguiy Volyna. dIn the basement people languish. There are no drugs.” lThe deputy mayor of Mariupol is also concerned. “They miss everything”ensures that BBC (article in English) Sergei Orlov. They lack water, food, medicine, help. And Russia is blocking everything, all humanitarian aid and evacuations.”
This isn’t the first time A .’s subwaysas well as shelters. As early as 2014, when pro-Russian separatists launched an attack on Mariupol, residents of the city hid there. †Since then we have kept these bunkers in good condition, there is water and food for three weeks.†† explain to New York Times (article in English), one of the spokespersons for the Metinvest group. Full supplies can last three weeks with 4,000 people inside, she says.
What is the military situation?
Vladimir Putin assured Thursday that his soldiers had taken control of Mariupol. But in the end there was no question of a storming of the factory in Azovstal. “I order to cancel ithe said Thursday during a meeting with his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, broadcast on Russian television. we have to think † For the life and health of our soldiers and officers, we must not enter these catacombs and crawl underground.”
“Take care of this whole area so no fly gets through.”
Vladimir Poutineon russian television
“The strategy of the Russian army is very simple, decodes for franceinfo Carole Grimaud-Potter, specialist in Russia and teacher of geopolitics. USAis the chair: ‘We are outside, they are inside, we are waiting’.”
Because entering the Azovstal site is not so easy. It consists of extensive tunnels that deliver material and ore to the various production sites during normal times. These dungeons complicate the Russian attack. “How do you imagine the industrial zone? It’s a city within the city and there are several underground floors from the Soviet period. You can’t bomb from above, you have to clean underground. That takes time.”† at the end of March admitted Eduard Basurin, the representative of the pro-Russian separatist forces in Donetsk. Some sources thus evoke more than 20 kilometers of corridors in the cellars, up to 30 meters deep.
Entering the tunnels is for Russian troops “impossible”† confirmed Alexander Grinberg, an analyst at the Jerusalem Institute for Security and Strategy (JISS). She “Maybe try to do it, but they will be slaughtered because the tunnel defenders have the absolute tactical advantage”. even a “nuclear attack” was unable to destroy the site, said Yan Gagin, a Russian adviser in the separatist region of Donetsk, on Russian television. Telegram (article in English).
What would the capture of this huge factory change for the Russian army?
The total capture of this site, and more generally of the city of Mariupol, would allow Russian soldiers to “the complete intersection between the Donbass, where they now converge, and the Crimea which the Kremlin annexed in 2014”, To explain Carole Grimaud Potter. This immense corridor would then be “entirely in their favour”. “It would enable them to move better, move equipment and troops between the Russian border to the east and into the city of Kershon.” lin the Sea of Azov, in fact, “would be russian”†
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On Thursday, the Kremlin captain also once again called on Ukrainian fighters to surrender and promised them that they would “save life” and that they would be “treated with dignity”. But the proposal was rejected: “We will fight to the last drop of our blood”† promised the Ukrainian commander.
