Azovstal defenders of Azerbaijani origin: We agreed not to surrender

In the large-scale war waged by Russia in Ukraine, the battles for the Azovstal plant in Mariupol attracted the world's attention. Two groups of prisoners, who took refuge in Azovstal and resisted the Russian army during the fighting in Mariupol, changed the course of the war, but surrendered to the other side upon the order of the Ukrainian leadership, have been returned as part of the exchange of prisoners.

More than 200 defenders of Azovstal were exchanged last week through the mediation of Turkiye, and among them are 2 Azerbaijanis. These are sergeant Rustam Babayev and chief sergeant Oleg Karamov, who fought in the marines of the Ukrainian army in Mariupol.

Report's correspondent in Ukraine met with them.

Rustam Babayev is a 22-year-old junior sergeant, born in Ukraine. Before the war, he worked as a welder in the city of Mykolaiv: "My father was Azerbaijani, we lost him when I was seven years old. Then his body was taken to Baku for burial. I have only my uncles here, no one else."

He said that he was in a position near Mariupol at the beginning of the war: "We started fighting the enemy from there. Then we had to retreat to Mariupol, we were resisting and defending. We had to withdraw as their aviation was strong. Ultimately, we retreated to Azovstal and started protecting the plant with the Azov fighters."

Speaking about his capture in Azovstal, he said that they fought until the last moment: "We surrendered only after the order of the President of Ukraine to lay down our weapons and surrender on May 18. They took us to Olenivka settlement in Donetsk Oblast. I was there for about 4-5 months until the exchange of prisoners. I wanted to back to my homeland as soon as possible, but to be honest, I had completely lost hope. We were in an information vacuum, we had no idea what was happening. No one said anything to us, they only talked about their progress and made up stories to discourage us and make us agree to move to their side. The exchange was also unexpected for us. They put us in KAMAZ and we thought they were changing our places. Because they told us 'we will take you to another place now'. After traveling in KAMAZ for half a day, they put us on the plane. When we got off, we realized we were in Gomel, Belarus. Only later, when the bus carrying us reached the Belarus-Ukraine border, we realized that there had been an exchange of prisoner and we were returning home. We couldn't believe our eyes. It seemed to the person that it was a dream, and you were afraid to wake up."

Rustam Babayev emphasized that they checked him more because his name and surname are not characteristic of Ukrainians: "When I was in captivity, they found that I was an Azerbaijani. Because when they received us, they filled out a questionnaire and collected information about our name, surname, and where we are from. At first, they thought that we were foreign mercenaries since they said that many mercenaries were fighting on the side of Ukraine. When they saw a foreigner's last name, special attention was given to that person, they investigated all his information to find a small excuse and say in the news tomorrow, 'look, not Ukrainians are fighting in the Ukrainian army, but mercenaries.'"

Oleg Karamov is a senior sergeant of the landing forces of the assault division, a combat training instructor: "I taught our soldiers how to fight and how to fire. I have been fighting since 2014, the first war in Ukraine. First, we were close to the village of Kominternove near Mariupol. Rustam and I fought together, I am his commander. While we were at the base station of the platoon - on February 24, Russia began an undeclared war and fired at our positions using rocket-propelled grenade systems, and aviation also supported the attack. Having known and seen what happened in 2014, I understood that Russia had started a war and they would come with greater force. I witnessed Russian fighter jets shelling residential buildings. Our soldiers were not there, but they were firing at the building. I can confidently say that Ukrainian soldiers, Azov fighters, or others never hid behind the civilian population and did not use them as a shield. We would always stand far away from the civilian population so they would not be fired upon."

He emphasized that when organizing the defense of Azovstal, they wanted to fight until the end, they had no intention of surrendering.

"We would fight to the last bullet, the last drop of blood. We agreed that no one would surrender. There were also servicemen of the Azov special battalion, national guards, and territorial defense units. Only upon the order, we stopped defending the plant and surrendered. They said they did it to save our lives. We fulfilled the order. We destroyed all our special equipment and then surrendered. First, I was taken to the Olenivka colony in the Donetsk Oblast. Three days later, a group of prisoners, including me, were loaded into KAMAZ with our hands and eyes tied and taken to the city of Taganrog, Rostov Oblast. I stayed there for 3 months and 25 days. They tried to learn something from everyone. We were initially told that there would be an exchange within three months. But after that time, nothing happened. I lost hope because I knew that some had been in captivity since 2014," he added.

Karamov said that another Azerbaijani soldier named Ali, who fought in Azovstal, was killed during the war: "A tense battle was going on, it was a skirmish. There were three men in their position, the enemy came in great force from that direction, and all three boys were killed. A grenade was thrown into the trench where they were, and the result is already known. Later we regained that position, took the bodies, and handed them over to the sorting station."

He spoke about the difficulties they faced when they returned from captivity: "First of all, they returned us to Taganrog, from there, we were sent by plane to Sevastopol, Crimea. There, 15 more prisoners joined us, and together, we flew to Gomel. Finally, we crossed the Belarus-Ukraine border and returned to our homeland. We stayed with our hands and eyes closed for almost two days. They didn't give us water, we couldn't go to the toilet. It was a difficult situation. They put in everyone's mind that we were fascists. I have a Ukrainian coat of arms tattoo on my hand, and when they saw it, told me that you are a nationalist."