Relatives of Azov fighters leave for Turkey to meet with President Erdogan

Nataliia Zarytska, the wife of an Azov Regiment fighter, said this in a Facebook post, Ukrinform reports.

"We, the relatives of the Defenders of Mariupol who stay at Azovstal, went to Istanbul to thank Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his support in the issue of rescuing and evacuating our loved ones to Turkey," Zarytska said.

She also noted that "the relatives of the fighters are asking Erdogan to join forces with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and help liberate our Heroes together."

About 600 seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers remain holed up in the shelters of the blocked Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol. The territory of the steelworks is under constant shelling.

Ukraine is involving a number of countries, including Israel, Switzerland, Turkey, and Finland, in the process of negotiations with Russia on the release of Ukrainian troops from Azovstal.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Iryna Vereshchuk said that a special evacuation operation from Azovstal will begin with the rescue of severely wounded soldiers and will be conducted in several stages.

Earlier, Ukraine offered Russia to exchange severely wounded Azovstal fighters for captured Russians.