In Ukraine, demonstrations for the release of soldiers imprisoned by Russia

This Sunday morning in the Ukrainian capital, families and loved ones demonstrated for Ukrainian soldiers imprisoned by Russia.

Hundreds of people, brandishing banners and placards, gathered on Independence Square to demand the immediate release of soldiers taken prisoner while fighting Russian soldiers on the front during the Battle of Mariupol.

It was the Azovstal Families association, named after this metallurgical factory where Ukrainian fighters had found refuge for weeks, which organized the demonstration. The fighters then had to leave the steelworks by order of the Ukrainian government, which is where they were captured by Russian troops.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened an investigation into alleged war crimes against Ukrainian soldiers shot dead by the Russians while they were surrendering.

The Russian invasion in Ukraine began on Thursday February 24, the port city of Mariupol resisted in the South-East of the country until Friday May 20, the date of the fall of the Azovstal steelworks where troops were entrenched. Ukrainian fighters to face the Russian army.

Since last May, the city of Mariupol has fallen into Russian hands. Besieged, the city became a field of ruin. According to kyiv, the martyr city was 90% destroyed and at least 20,000 people were killed. After the fall of Azovstal, Volodymyr Zelensky did not speak of “surrender” but rather of “saving our heroes”.