"Ours!" Volyna tells how Ukrainian marines broke through to Azovstal under Z-tanks and V-tanks

In 2022, the marines' breakthrough to the Azov regiment in Mariupol, besieged by Russian occupiers, took place on vehicles with Russian "zetas" and with a high risk of being captured. This was told in an interview with UP by Ukrainian soldier Serhiy (Volyn) Volynsky, then acting commander of the 36th Marine Brigade.

"There was an order to breakthrough at Azovstal. Few people believed in it. When it became clear that some decision had to be made one way or another, I managed to get in touch with the commander of the Azov regiment, Denis Prokopenko. He flew over the route we had discussed and indicated what was happening there. And on that particular day, it turned out that the Russians had pulled out the equipment they were using to block the bridge. I realized that it would be a surprise effect if we took the route where no one was waiting for us," Volyna said .

At the same time, he said, the risk of being taken prisoner by Russia was "maximum.".

"We put Z's and V's on our cars and drove right through the central exit of the plant along the main roads of the city with the headlights off. We did not stop at checkpoints. A machine gunner with the call sign Batya shouted to them, "We're yours!" and that's how we got to Azovstal," the soldier said .

In total, he said, up to 250 people got to Azovstal in this way.

"To be honest, I was surprised, but we were all happy. We realized that we were even deeper into the besieged city, we realized that we would not be able to get out with fighting, and that this was the last place of resistance," he added.

• on May 17, 2022, the commanders of the units stationed at Azovstal received an order to save the lives of their personnel. The Ukrainian side called it an operation to rescue the defenders of Mariupol, while the Russian Federation believed that Ukrainian soldiers had "surrendered".
• On July 8, 2023, Ukrainian soldiers Redis, Kalyna, Volyn, Khomenko and Shleha.
• According to the Coordination Center, as of May 2025, Ukraine managed to return almost half of the military who defended the Azovstal plant during the battles for Mariupol in 2022, some of them were fighters of the Azov regiment.