Kateryna, 27, and Yuliya, 29, speak slowly, with lost eyes, pending the cell phone, in case news, messages or calls arrive from the bowels of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariúpol. Inside are their husbands, Azov battalion commander Denis Prokopenko, and officer Arseniy Fedosiuk.
They have explained their dramatic situation to the Pope in the Vatican, and have asked him for help to save them, on behalf of 500 other brides and wives, but also widows who claim the body of their husband.
How was the meeting with the Pope?
Kateryna: We have told you what is happening in Azovstal, the situation of the wounded, the people killed, the fighting. We have asked for your help so that a third country can get them out of there.
In exchange, they agree to stop fighting.
How old are your husbands?
Yuliya: Arseniy is 29 years old, and Denis is 30.
When was the last time they spoke?
Y: Last night. He told me that he loves me, I told him that I love him and that I will do everything to save him.
K: I spoke last night with Arseniy. He told me that he has Covid symptoms, that he is weak, and that he does not have antibiotics. He is very weak, he cannot heal himself in these conditions…
Has the Pope given you any message for them?
Y: He said he will pray for us and for our husbands, for the war… Now we are still waiting for other answers, let them see what is happening and in a few days there will be some initiative… I hope they find a way to help us.
K: When we talked, he agreed to what we said, for example, come to the Ukraine. It looks like he knows what’s going on. Support us.
What is the situation at the Azovstal steelworks?
K: They are fighting. The fighting is very hard because they have been bombing all the time and heavy bombs are falling that in recent days have destroyed the military hospital… They are already running out of food, water, or medicine.
Y: And the worst thing is that there is no possibility of getting new ones. They’re making bandages out of dirty rags. Although the injuries are minor, as there are no antibiotics or medicines, their situation worsens very quickly. Now they can die without antibiotics.
Earlier, Kateryna had explained that about seven hundred wounded soldiers have had to be amputated and have gangrene in Azovstal. And that inside there are “many dead, who cannot receive a Christian burial.”
Are you worried that Ukraine will abandon you to your fate?
Y: No, they won’t let us. They are helping us now. The police, the navy, the Army help us… And even more must be done, also through the media. You have to do everything to save them.
What do you ask of the international community?
K: That a coalition of countries be formed, as a third party in this war, that can evacuate everyone, and that helps to convince the Russian Federation that it must put an end to this war. A country that is brave to evacuate them. Maybe Switzerland or Turkey. I don’t know.
Does it bother you that the Pope wants to meet with Vladimir Putin before traveling to Ukraine?
Y: The main thing is not where he will go, but that this situation is resolved. If you think it is useful to go to Moscow, then go. Talk to Putin and tell him to let our husbands out. The main thing is that this war be resolved…
Do they return to Ukraine now?
K: I didn’t want to leave the country. I carry Ukraine in my heart. I wanted to be there for the duration of this war. But since the possibility of speaking with the Pope has arisen, I came to help save my husband.
They say goodbye saying that they are willing to join their husbands in any country, but that they want to return home and help rebuild the country. “We don’t want to be refugees,” greets one of them, on behalf of the 500.
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