Azovstal, Mariupol
The steel giant that became the last fortress of Mariupol's 86-day defence.
The 1930s steelworks on the Sea of Azov became Mariupol's last line of defence: the garrison and hundreds of civilians held out in its underground shelters. The siege lasted 86 days — from 24 February to 20 May 2022, when the defenders walked out on orders of the command. The Azov regiment and the marines made "Azovstal" a word the world learned without translation. The garrison was commanded by Denys Prokopenko "Redis"; among those who walked into captivity on 20 May 2022 was scout Vasyl Kopan "Neznaika" — returned in an exchange that September, killed in 2024 on the Toretsk axis. The youngest defender of the plant was Nazarii Hryntsevych "Grienka" from Vinnytsia: a paramedic, captivity, a return to the ranks and death near Kreminna in 2024.
Temporarily occupied territory. The point is a memory.