On May 16, 2022, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces) asked its troops to surrender in order to "save the lives of personnel", and this protracted battle ended.
The Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol has become a symbol of Ukraine resilience, with thousands of soldiers squatting in underground bunkers at the plant for months trying to thwart the Russians.
Soldier and photographer Dmytro Kozatsky was one of those who surrendered. Although he is now a prisoner of war, his last few tweets on Twitter made the resistance in Mariupol known to the world.
html On May 20, the day when our nation sang "Love" and the day Kozatsky surrendered, he posted a link to a folder containing photos taken during the months he and his comrades lived in the steel plant. The photo was accompanied by the caption: "Well, that's it. I thank you from my refuge in Azovstark - the place where I live and die."
He then asked people to share the images, saying: " Send them to all journalism awards and photography competitions. It will be great after I am released. Thank you all for your support"
spent a few months living in Azov Steel Plant. Here, he maintains semi-regular contact with his family. He said he only ate one oatmeal porridge a day and water was strictly rationed.
In the days leading up to the surrender, his family chose to stay away from the topic of the war during video chats. His sister Darya Yurchenko said: "We decided not to touch the topic (the war) for a few days. We told him: 'Dmytro, you go home, we will discuss it with you then. But can we just pretend for a while? God, pretend this (war) isn't happening right now? It's like you're at home and we're with you and we're just chatting? '"
Kozatsky's stunning photos detail the tunnels and bunkers beneath the steel plant living condition. Built to withstand a nuclear attack, they became a stronghold for the resistance, shackling the Russian troops and delaying their declaration of victory at Mariupol.
In these photos we can see soldiers bathing in beams of light from blown-out ceilings, to soldiers passing the time with crossword puzzles. There were many small fires for warmth, and the wounded soldiers tried their best to treat their wounds.
Killing, smoke, displacement, separation of flesh and blood, as long as war is destroying lives, if there is a choice, I don’t think anyone is really willing to sacrifice everything for peace.
War is cruel and sad. What is sad is not whether the initiators will be punished, but the unarmed common people who are forced to join and "apologise" on their behalf!
