Sergey Volyna: I’ve been in contact with the president for last 2 months.
The commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade of Ukraine Navy Sergey Volyna, defender of Mariupol, made a public statement confirming he has been in direct communication with the president of Ukraine for last two months. This revelation came when the president Zelensky in his interview to TIME’s admitted he has been contacting on personal level with two of commanders of the Mariupol defenders among whom one is Sergey Volyna.
This fact sheds light on conundrum the defenders of Mariupol have been indicating saying they are arranging evacuation of the civilians from Azovstal. Regardless how the statement sounds the situation is beyond critical. Already there are dead civilians due to Russian army using 3- and 5-ton concrete bunker busting aerial bombs to crush the bomb shelters of Azovstal resulting in at least two collapses and death among civilians, including a 10 y.o. girl.
The last such incident destroyed emergency operation room of the Mariupol defenders depriving them from giving first help for the wounded defenders.
Russia is using brutal methods to break the defenders by dropping heavy bombs that hasn’t been used since WWII on Azovstal. 5-ton bunker busting bombs have never been used in Europe, even during WWII, only in the Pacific war theatre. The Russian army combatants in Mariupol had to be warned beforehand of the use of 3-ton bombs as the blast wave created by them is so massive it affects the ground troops even when they are at a distance. The Russian army combatants itself have admitted they feel sorry to the receiving end of the 3-ton bomb but can’t imagine what it feels like having being hit with 5-ton one.
On April 28 Russian army bombarded Azovstal with 7 Tu-22M3 strategic bombers dropping the heavy ones which was followed by Su-24 and Su-25 that made 50 precision strikes with 1-ton bombs. The previous record was April 28 when the Su24 and Su-25 made 35 air raids and resulted in heavy shell shock among civilians with the defenders in Azovstal. Any injury regardless of its severity among the defenders of civilians will lead to serious health issues and possibly death as the opportunities what emergency medical help can be given is limited. The lady on the video published by the Regiment “Azov” shows to which extent she has nerve damage and loss of control over her body due to heavy shell shock.
Завод «Азовсталь», в якому знаходяться захисники Маріуполя, де в підвалах ховаються від обстрілів цивільні, продовжують накривати ворожим вогнем.
Тільки за минулу добу було здійснено 35 авіаударів, в ході яких сталось займання одного із цехів.👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/YzCHmViwPY
— АЗОВ (@Polk_Azov) April 26, 2022
This is why the commanders of Regiment “Azov” and the commander of Ukraine Navy marines have begged over last two weeks to organize evacuation of the civilians and wounded defenders. More than 600 wounded defenders are awaiting their faith. There are not less than 1000 civilians with the defenders and wounded combatants which makes the figure of evacuees quite significant and reaching past 1500. The bad news is the collapse of the first bomb shelter in Azovstal the fortnight that resulted in unknown number of dead and died under the rubble but it has to be in hundreds. The closest estimation was approx. 300 or more civilians were killed or wounded including the mentioned 10.y.o. girl.
On April 29 the president of Ukraine officially announced of evacuation of civilians from Azovstal which was given as assignment to the Gen. Sec. of the UN Antonio Guterres. No details have been revealed and the prospects of success seems to be non-existent. The factor that sheds light on possible positive outcome comes in the form of Facebook post by the commander of the 36th SMbr Sergey Volyna admitting he has been in direct contact with the president of Ukraine for last 2 months yet in last several weeks they have become closer and like friends by having phone calls, sending SMS, or asking the status update in the middle of the night. These details are important, these details are crucial. These details change the whole dynamic of the situation and bolster the statements made by Sergey Volyna he’s arranging the details to evacuate Azovstal civilians.
How this turns out only the time will tell. Also, people who are involved in making sure such process can take place are deeply invested persons.
Sergey Volyna:
“I dreamt of Ukraine being a state where a soldier is a friend of the President!
I’ve always loved Ukraine. I guess I got that love with my mother’s milk. Defending is my nature, which has been manifest since I was a kid. No matter how strong my enemy is, my soul has always wanted justice!
What’s that all about? That is about the fact that for two months now I have been personally communicating with the President of Ukraine, that is also telephone conversations and text messages in the middle of the night, like real friends who support each other at a difficult time. So, turns out my dream has come true, the soldier and the president are friends!
And now, as my friend says, “We don’t have time to dream. We have no dreams, we have a Ukrainian goal! We’re gonna get our people back… Why I’m so certain in this? Because everything is possible in Ukraine!”
I’m used to trusting and trusting my friends! For my part, I guarantee that the Marines will make the impossible possible.
Ukraine is Mariupol!”
On April 18 Sergey Volyna made an open letter to the world and the Pope for drawing attention to the critical situation in Mariupol and make everything possible the world leaders would help establishing trusted green corridor for evacuation of the civilians by inserting their head of state powers. You could read it here – https://valdef.org/?p=7108&lang=en
