Wives of Soldiers Trapped in Ukrainian Steel Plant Describe Horrific Conditions: 'On the Last Breath'

Aaron Parsley
·4 min read
Kateryna Prokopenko, wife of Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov regiment, right, and Yulia Fedosiuk, wife of Arseny Fedosiuk, another member of Azov regiment show photos on their phones of their husbands during an interview with the Associated Press, in Rome, . Two Ukrainian women whose husbands are defending a besieged steel plant in the southern city of Mariupol are calling for any evacuation of civilians to also include soldiers. They say the troops stand to be tortured and killed if left behind and captured by Russian forces
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Alessandra Tarantino/AP/Shutterstock

Wives of Ukrainian soldiers trapped beneath the besieged Ukrainian Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol want the world to know what their husbands are going through — and hope their message will help save the men before they become casualties in the war against Russia.

"They are really on the last breath," Kateryna Prokopenko told The New York Times of the trapped soldiers, which include her husband, Lt. Col. Denys Prokopenko.

Yulia Fedosiuk, whose husband Sgt. Arseniy Fedosiuk is also among those under the sprawling factory, said there could be as many as 3,000 men still alive inside.

"The whole world is advising them to surrender without understanding that it means death for them," Fedosiuk told the Times.

Prokopenko, 27, and Fedosiuk, 29, speak almost daily with their husbands via a Starlink satellite communication system, according to the report.

RELATED: Survivors From Besieged Ukraine City Describe the Horrors of the Invasion: 'They Destroyed Everything'

Though "all women, children and the elderly have been evacutated" from the steel plant, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, according to NPR, the Ukrainian fighters make up the remaining resistance to a complete Russian takeover of the strategically important— and devastatingly hard-hit — city of Mariupol, located in southern Ukraine.

Smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern in Mariupol, Ukraine, . Heavy fighting is raging at the besieged steel plant in Mariupol as Russian forces attempt to finish off the city's last-ditch defenders and complete the capture of the strategically vital port Russia, Mariupol, Ukraine

AP/Shutterstock

Prokopenko and Fedosiuk said time is running out as their husbands face horrific conditions, including shortages of food and clean water and being surrounded by decomposing bodies of their fellow fighters who've fallen.

Subsisting on only one meal a day, then men are hanging on "in dirty rooms, in basements or sitting on rubble, or sitting in bunkers," Prokopenko said, adding that venturing outside risks being hit by sniper or a bomb. "So you have to be inside all the time in the dungeon," she added. "There is mold hidden on clothes. Even your weapon is already all in the mold."

Prokopenko said she detected a change in her usually strong husband's voice as supplies dwindle and the conditions worsen.

RELATED: Russian Troops Want to Conceal Bodies of More Than 10,000 Dead in Mariupol, Ukraine, Mayor Says

"He says warm words to me and asks about ordinary things that many of them have forgotten: what is it like to live in an apartment, eat ice cream, potatoes, some hot dishes, eat fresh bread," Prokopenko said. "All soldiers dream of warm fresh bread, because they eat moldy bread. They dream of clean drinking water."

Hearing from her husband about what he and the others are going through is difficult for Prokopenko. "I am ashamed that I live a normal life: I have a bed, a pillow, drinking water, pills," she said. "He and his comrades do not have it, and I am ashamed and sad about it."

Image from drone footage released by the Azov Regiment on May 5, 2022 shows flame billows and smoke rises from the Azovstal steel plant as the assault on plant continues. Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians remain in the complex. The plant is under heavy fire as Russia forces uses aircraft, artillery and infantry to storm the last holdout of the Ukrainian forces in the southern port city of Mariupol.

EyePress News/Shutterstock

She believes her only option is to share the grim details her husband tells her. "They must not be allowed to die," Prokopenko said. "We are shouting about it. We cry over it. We tear our souls to save them."

And the story, she believes, is one that others will want to know.

"I am sure that after the war, Spielberg will make the largest film about Azovstal, and all the directors will fight to make their film the most realistic," Prokopenko said. "You won't even have to add fantastic details, because all the horrors that happen in science-fiction films are happening now at Azovstal."

RELATED: Her Husband Was Allegedly Shot by Russians, Who Watched Emotionless 'Like an Audience' as She Wept

Russia's attack on Ukraine continues after their forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.

Details of the fighting change by the day, but thousands of civilians have already been reported dead or wounded, including children, though the actual number of deaths is difficult to determine.

Nearly 6 million have fled the country as refugees — and half are children, according to the United Nations. Millions more have been displaced inside Ukraine.

The invasion, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has drawn condemnation around the world and increasingly severe economic sanctions against Russia.

With NATO forces amassed in the region, various countries are offering aid or military support to the resistance. Zelenskyy has called for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.

Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.

"Nobody is going to break us, we're strong, we're Ukrainians," he told the European Union in a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, "Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness."

The Russian attack on Ukraine is an evolving story, with information changing quickly. Follow PEOPLE's complete coverage of the war here, including stories from citizens on the ground and ways to help.