Denys Prokopenko, Commander of the “Azov” National Guard Regiment of Ukraine recorded a new video address about the situation at Azovstal.

He said that the high military command issued an order to preserve the lives and health of garrison servicemen and to stop the defense of Mariupol.

Denis Prokopenko noted that the soldiers of the Azovstal garrison had three main conditions: evacuation of civilians, seriously injured, and deceased.

So far, civilians who were staying on the territory of the enterprise were evacuated.

According to Prokopenko, the wounded are being provided with the necessary care.

“As for the fallen heroes, the process is underway, but I hope that in the near future, families and the whole Ukraine will be able to bury their soldiers with honors,” Prokopenko said.

As previously reported, the evacuation from Azovstal began on May 16. The seriously injured soldiers were taken to a hospital located in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. Other servicemen are under the control of the Russian military. The fate of the deceased heroes is unknown.

On May 17, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced that 52 seriously injured servicemen are to be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war. She added that the work on the next stages of the humanitarian operation is ongoing.

According to British intelligence, approximately 1,700 servicemen from the Azovstal are likely to have surrendered. An unknown number of defenders of Mariupol remain inside the plant.

The day before, Sviatoslav Palamar, Deputy Commander of the Azov Regiment mentioned that the command of the unit remains on the territory of the plant.

“An operation, the details of which I will not disclose, is underway,” he said.

The Babylon 13 Association has launched a series of short documentaries “Mariupol Fortress” about the defenders of the Ukrainian city.