Ukrainian troops unlikely to get easy exit from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel mill, experts say
- Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have for weeks been holed up at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, trapped under heavy Russian fire
- Western experts say the remaining Ukrainian forces may have difficulty getting out of the sprawling factory as free men or even alive
Following the evacuation of some civilians from a steel mill besieged by Russian forces in the port of Mariupol, attention is turning to the fate of hundreds of Ukrainian troops still inside after weeks in the plant’s warren of underground tunnels and bunkers.
Their choice seems to be either fighting to the death or surrendering in hopes of being spared under the terms of international humanitarian law.
But Western experts say the troops, who count both able-bodied and wounded among their ranks, are unlikely to be afforded an easy exit and may have difficulty getting out of the Azovstal steelworks as free men or even alive.
“They have the right to fight until they are dead, but if they surrender to Russia, they can be detained,” said Marco Sassoli, a professor of international law at the University of Geneva. “It’s simply their choice.”
With the soldiers’ futures hanging in the balance, Sassoli said it shouldn’t be ruled out that the Russians would treat them in accordance with international law: “It would be not accurate to say the these poor guys in Azovstal should not surrender to the Russians because the Russians will execute or torture them.”
Laurie Blank, a professor at Emory Law School in Atlanta who specialises in international humanitarian law and law of armed conflict, said injured fighters are considered “hors de combat” - literally “out of the fight” - and can be detained as prisoners of war.