Two Ukrainian women whose husbands are defending a besieged steel mill in Mariupol, in the south, are demanding that any evacuation of civilians include military personnel, claiming that if the troops are left behind and seized by Russian forces, they will be tortured and killed.

“The lives of soldiers matter too. We can’t only talk about civilians, “Yuliia Fedusiuk, 29, the wife of Arseniy Fedusiuk, a soldier of the Azov Regiment in Mariupol, stated, “We’re trying to save all of the soldiers, not just the ones who are dead or injured.”

She and Kateryna Prokopenko, whose husband, Denys Prokopenko, is the Azov commander, made their appeal for international help to evacuate the Azovstal facility, the final stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the strategically important but now bombed-out port city, in Rome on Friday.

An estimated 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 1,000 civilians are holed up in the plant’s enormous subterranean network of airtight bunkers.

However, as Russian forces launched “bunker busters” and other explosives in recent days, circumstances there have deteriorated, with food, water, and medication running short.

At a meeting this week in Moscow, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to arrange evacuations from the facility, with the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross engaged, according to the UN.

However, as reported by the United Nations, the conversations were about civilians, not fighters.

Prokopenko, 27, spoke in English and appealed for a Dunkirk-style rescue expedition, referring to the World War II naval operation that rescued British and Allied troops encircled by German forces in northern France.

“We can do this extraction operation which will save our soldiers, our civilians, our kids,” she said. “We need to do this right now, because people — every hour, every second—are dying.”

According to the women, 600 troops have been injured, with some suffering from gangrene. They supplied graphic films and images of guys with severed limbs, gunshot wounds, and other ailments given by their spouses. People are alleged to be eating oatmeal, aged cheese, and stale bread.

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