Azovstal Defenders Named Among Most Important Ukrainians Of Last Decade

More than 1,000 Ukrainian warriors are still in enemy captivity.

The defenders of Azovstal, who held back the enemy invasion for 86 days, 82 in complete surrounding, were named among the most important Ukrainians of the last decade. The list of 100 compatriots who played a key role in Ukraine over the course of 10 years was formed by the editorial board of NV based on the opinions of experts and its readers.

The defenders present at the event received awards: Mykhailo Vernyhora, the National Guardsman who lost his arm during the defense of Mariupol, was captured, but despite everything, continued to serve in the National Guard. Rostislav Prystupa — the marine who was seriously wounded in Mariupol — a splinter hit his spinal cord. He spent a month and a half in captivity. Vilhelm Vityuk is the serviceman of the Ground Forces who was wounded while saving civilians in Mariupol. He survived inhuman treatment and torture in captivity: the Russians were especially cruel to him, because he had a tattoo with the Ukrainian coat of arms. Volodymyr Tatarenko is a volunteer, a member of the medical team of the “Angels of Tyra”, was captured along with other defenders of Azovstal. He spent five months there.

The Person of the Decade award was given to Ihor Hordiichuk, Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine. In 2014 he commanded the capture of Savur-Mohyla, and was seriously wounded near Ilovaisk. Subsequently, he headed the Kyiv Military Lyceum named after Ivan Bohun.

The awards to the defenders of Mariupol were presented by the Director of Corporate Communications of the Metinvest Group Oleh Davydenko and Ksenia Sukhova, Director of the NGO “Heart of Azovstal”, founded by Rinat Akhmetov.

“In three months, you have turned Mariupol and the Azovstal plant into a synonym for the word “courage”. You have become an example, a role model for Ukrainians and all who support Ukraine in its struggle,” Davydenko noted.

Sukhova emphasized that more than 1,000 defenders of Ukraine are still in enemy captivity, so everything must be done to free them.

The Russians surrounded Mariupol back on March 2. Every day the city was shelled with all types of weapons, in less than a month more than 80% of the housing stock was destroyed. But the world started talking about Mariupol after the cynical attacks on the maternity hospital and the Drama Theater, where, according to preliminary data, more than 300 people died.

Ukrainian soldiers held the city, not sparing their lives. The last point of defense was Azovstal, a plant that occupied 20% of the entire city and had a complex system of underground communications, including a large number of bomb shelters. The owner of the plant, Akhmetov's Metinvest company, prepared these bomb shelters in advance: there were supplies of food, water and medicines that allowed the defense of the city to be maintained for as many as 82 days, and to pull back significant Russian forces, preventing them from advancing in other directions. Anna Zaitseva, the wife of Kirylo Zaitsev, the defender of Mariupol who is still in Russian captivity, later recalled this.