Relatives of Mariupol defenders ask Erdogan to involve China to save fighters

Relatives of Ukraine's Mariupol defenders have called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to join forces with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and organize a mission to rescue Ukrainian fighters staying at the Azovstal steel mill through the "extraction" procedure.

Members of the families of Mariupol defenders said this at a briefing in Istanbul on Monday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

Opening the briefing, Ukrainian singer Ruslana noted that the heroic defense of Mariupol has been going on for 80 days, and every minute of today's conversation is someone's life in Mariupol.

"We have come to ask President Erdogan to make another act of peacekeeping and humanity - an attempt to save Mariupol. […] We believe that no one but you will be able to help Mariupol now. We believe that there is another chance and another opportunity. We believe that President Erdogan can join forces and involve, for example, China, and this will be a victory for people who believe that the highest wisdom of the politician and diplomacy can save the defenders of Mariupol," Ruslana said.

Nataliia, the wife of an Azov Regiment fighter, thanked President Erdogan and the Turkish people for their support and assistance to Ukraine and Ukrainians. At the same time, she stressed that the loved ones of Mariupol defenders count on the President of Turkey, as the ring around Azovstal has become smaller.

"There is no time to procrastinate. The best moment is now. We place our last hope on you and believe that by joining forces, Turkey, represented by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and China, represented by its leader Xi Jinping, and God will unite and help save Azovstal and the people staying there on the brink of life and death. […] They should have been saved yesterday. […] Mr. Erdogan, we ask you to turn to Xi Jinping and do it together with God," Nataliia said.

Earlier, the relatives of Mariupol defenders appealed to Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help save the fighters by pulling them out of the Azovstal metallurgical plant encircled by Russian troops through the extraction procedure.

Ukraine offered Russia to exchange the severely wounded Azovstal fighters for Russian prisoners according to the prisoner exchange rules.

According to Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, it is currently impossible to unblock Azovstal by military means. Defenders of Azovstal are not going to surrender, and the Russians do not agree to the extraction procedure.

On May 7, Vereshchuk announced that all women, children, and the elderly had been evacuated from Azovstal.

Russian forces are constantly shelling the territory of the steel plant with all kinds of weapons. The Ukrainian military, including several hundred wounded soldiers, is defending the plant. There is an acute shortage of medicines, and people are dying in agony.