Putin may think Azov is buried under Azovstal rubble, but the whole country is now "Azov" - statement

This is stated in a post on the unit’s Telegram channel, Ukrinform reports.

It is noted that eight years ago, Mariupol was liberated from Russian terrorists. Every year, the city would mark this day, but today there is nothing to celebrate.

"But Azov is alive. And the city will live. We will avenge everyone who died. Every building destroyed. Every street that Russia desecrated with ‘liberation.’ Putin thinks that Azov has remained under the rubble of Azovstal. But the whole country is now ‘Azov,’” the statement reads.

It is also noted that Azov will bring Mariupol back to Ukraine. "And we will fight until every Ukrainian town and village is liberated from the occupiers," the unit stated.

As reported, on June 13, 2014, Mariupol was liberated from Russian occupation. Some 150 soldiers with the Azov Special Battalion, two companies of the Dnipro Special Battalion, two companies of the National Guard, and a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs took part in the effort.

Today, as a result of a full-scale Russian invasion, the city has been almost completely wiped out by enemy shelling.

The Ukrainian military defended Mariupol for more than 80 days. On May 16, the evacuation of Ukrainian defenders from the Azovstal plant, besieged by Russian invaders, began and lasted for several days.

Up to 22,000 civilians have been killed in town since full-scale Russian invasion.

Photo: azov.org.ua