“Azovstal”, “Benya” from “Azov”, Israel and the path to exchange — On May 21, 2022, Zelensky confirmed that the defenders of Mariupol, who defended the “Azovstal” plant, will be “evacuated for further exchange”

On May 21, 2022, Zelensky confirmed that the defenders of Mariupol, who defended the Azovstal plant, are being “evacuated for further exchange”.

At the final stage of the defense of Mariupol, on May 20, 2022, Ukrainian military, having completed their combat mission, concluded the defense of the Azovstal plant. By that time, the plant itself had been practically destroyed by Russian forces. For Ukraine, this was not just the end of one defensive operation, but a moment after which another, no less painful story began — the struggle to return the defenders from Russian captivity.

Even on the night of May 16 to 17, part of the defenders of Azovstal was withdrawn through a humanitarian corridor to territories occupied by the Russian Federation. At that time, it was explained as an evacuation for further delivery to Ukrainian-controlled territory through an exchange mechanism. The very holding of Azovstal until that time gave Ukraine time to form reserves, regroup forces, and receive assistance from partners.

The command of the Azov regiment initially remained on the territory of the plant. On May 20, 2022, the commanders of the defenders of Azovstal also left the plant. And already on May 21, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the defenders of Mariupol, who defended Azovstal, are being “evacuated for further exchange”.

When the order was given and how it was explained then

The key date is May 16, 2022. It was then publicly announced that the Mariupol garrison received an order to preserve the lives of the personnel. The commander of Azov, Denys Prokopenko, reported that the defenders of Mariupol fulfilled the order of the higher military command. The essence of this order was to cease defense under conditions of complete blockade and give people a chance to survive.

On the night of May 16 to 17, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced an operation to save the defenders of Azovstal. At that time, it was not about capitulation in the usual sense, but about exiting the encirclement through a humanitarian corridor with the expectation of further exchange. For society, families, and the military themselves, it looked like a difficult but forced decision to save lives.

On May 20, the process of exiting was completed. The command of the defenders left the territory of the plant, and the defense of Azovstal was effectively completed. The next day, on May 21, Zelensky publicly explained that the defenders of Mariupol are being evacuated for further exchange.

He said that the fighters received a signal from the military: they have the full right to leave and save their lives. Zelensky also emphasized that the further fate of the defenders depends on what the UN, the Red Cross, the Russian Federation, and the format of the future exchange take upon themselves.

Why later there was a dispute about guarantees

Later, the International Committee of the Red Cross clarified its role differently. The organization stated that it acted as a neutral intermediary to ensure the safe exit of the military from the plant by agreement of the parties, but did not take on guarantees of safety after the fighters were in the hands of the enemy.

The UN also separately emphasized that its representatives did not participate in the actual procedure of the Ukrainian defenders’ exit from the territory of Azovstal in May 2022. According to the organization’s position, the withdrawal of the military was the result of direct agreements between the parties to the conflict — Kyiv and Moscow.

It is here that the painful difference arose between how it was explained in May 2022 and what happened next. At that time, it was about saving lives, evacuation, preparation for dialogue, and future exchange. That’s how it looked at that moment. But reality turned out to be much longer, harsher, and scarier.

Israeli trace: why they appealed to Jerusalem from Azovstal

In this story, there was a direct Israeli nerve. A few days before the garrison’s exit, one of the defenders of Mariupol, a fighter of the Azov regiment Vitaliy Barabash, call sign Benya, recorded an appeal on behalf of Ukrainian Jews who were at Azovstal. He was severely wounded and concussed, so his comrades read the text for him. A tattoo in the form of the Star of David was clearly visible on Barabash’s hand.

Sources close to the Ukrainian government then told The Times of Israel that among the Ukrainian military in Mariupol there are more than 20 soldiers of Jewish origin.

“Benya” is the call sign of Vitaliy Alexandrovich Barabash, a sailor of the Navy and defender of Mariupol. In May 2022, being severely wounded, he recorded a video appeal to the government and people of Israel on behalf of all Ukrainian Jews who were on the blockaded Azovstal plant. Due to severe injuries and concussions, it was difficult for Vitaliy to speak. His speech was read by his comrades-in-arms, who asked Israel and the world community to help save the garrison. Vitaliy Barabash went through Russian captivity, was released, and returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory. Subsequently, he became a participant in the “Heart of Azovstal” project and entered a university

The appeal was addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the Knesset, the people of Israel, journalists, Rabbi Liron Ederi, the “Bein Stern Shulman” synagogue in Kryvyi Rih, as well as Israeli politicians Yuli Edelstein, Yulia Malinovsky, Yevgeny Sova, and Alex Kushnir. It was not a general letter to the “world community,” but a direct appeal to Israel and the Jewish community.

Barabash said that in Ukrainian Mariupol, on the ruins of the Azovstal plant, there are Jews just like the citizens of Israel. He linked Ukrainian and Jewish historical memory — Stalin’s crimes, Hitler, the common tragedy, and the new threat brought by Putin’s army.

The full text of this appeal :

“I am Vitaliy Alexandrovich Barabash, call sign ‘Benya’. It is difficult for me to speak due to severe injuries, concussions, and illnesses, so my brothers in arms will speak for me on behalf of all Ukrainian Jews who are with me at Azovstal.

Everyone needs a peaceful sky overhead.

With these words, I begin my appeal to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the Knesset, the people of Israel, journalists, the “Bein Stern Shulman” synagogue in Kryvyi Rih, Rabbi Liron Ederi.

I hope that our appeal will also be heard by Yuli Edelstein, Yulia Malinovsky, Yevgeny Sova, and Alex Kushnir.

Here, in Ukrainian Mariupol, on the ruins of the Azovstal plant, there are Jews just like me and you. We all remember how our Ukrainian ancestors suffered from Stalin’s genocide and how our Jewish ancestors suffered from Hitler.

Today we all face a new threat, which in the face of Putin unites and revives the actions of these two tyrants of the past.

I appeal to you on behalf of all Jews at the besieged Azovstal. I am wounded, so I can record this video. The rest of my comrades are now on the battlefield, defending every inch of land that the Ukrainian people have always shared with our ancestors.

For the third month in a row, the Russians have been destroying everything connected with our common roots and our history. Our peoples have experienced terrible tragedies in the past, but today we must fight for our land and our country. Ukraine has never turned away from Jews, and we believe that Israel will not turn away from Ukrainians, but will stand with us against the Russian occupiers who have brought a new tragedy to our land.

We need Israel’s help in extracting the Mariupol military garrison. We ask you for salvation.

You, like no one else, are able to accomplish this. We, like no one else, place our hopes on you. We are waiting for you. We are already writing history.”

His request was extremely specific: Ukraine needs Israel’s help in extracting the Mariupol military garrison. He said: “We ask you for salvation.” For the Israeli audience, this phrase sounds especially acute because the topic of prisoners, hostages, negotiations, and returning their people here is not an abstract foreign policy.

Naftali Bennett indeed raised the issue of Azovstal in a conversation with Putin and asked to consider different evacuation options from the plant’s territory. According to Bennett’s office, the Russian president then promised to allow the evacuation of civilians, including the wounded, through UN and Red Cross humanitarian corridors.

What Israel could and did not guarantee

Here it is important not to confuse different levels of participation. Israel was not an official guarantor of the Ukrainian military’s exit from Azovstal and did not manage the procedure of their further exchange. But Israel was the addressee of a direct appeal from Jewish Ukrainian fighters, and Prime Minister Bennett indeed tried to influence Moscow in the humanitarian field.

For the Israeli reader, this nuance is especially important. Israel knows the price of negotiations with the enemy, knows how years of waiting turn the fates of prisoners into part of national pain. Therefore, the story of Azovstal should not be perceived here as a distant Ukrainian tragedy.

In the middle of this topic, Nikk.Agency — News of Israel sees an important Israeli-Ukrainian context: it is not only about war, but also about how states, societies, and Jewish communities respond to a request for help when people are surrounded, wounded, and cut off from the world.

Why the exchange did not become a quick return home

The main pain of this story is that the expected exchange did not become a quick and complete process. Some defenders were indeed returned. But hundreds of people are still in Russian captivity, and for their families, May 2022 did not become the beginning of the road home.

According to Ukrainian data, about 1,400 servicemen of the Azov brigade left Azovstal in 2022. Thanks to exchanges, a little more than half of them returned home, but more than 700 Azov members still remain in captivity.

If we consider not only Azov but also other formations that held the defense of Mariupol and the plant, about 1,500 defenders continue to be in captivity. Among them are fighters of the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, the Marine Corps, and territorial defense.

Russia systematically delays exchanges specifically for the defenders of Azovstal. Many Ukrainian military personnel are fabricated with charges, given illegal sentences, and their fates are used as a tool of pressure on Ukraine. This is a continuation of the war by other means — through captivity, fear, silence, and uncertainty.

What should remain in focus

In the center of this story should be not only the statements of politicians and diplomatic formulations. The focus should be on the people themselves. The defenders of Mariupol completed a combat mission in conditions where there were almost no chances left and received an order to preserve the lives of the personnel.

Among them were Ukrainians of different origins, including Jews, who directly appealed to Israel and spoke of their hope for help. This fact is especially important for the Israeli audience: Azovstal was not an abstract symbol, but a place where living people were, connected with Jewish history, Ukrainian land, and a common struggle against Russian aggression.

Today, it remains to demand one thing — that the topic of the defenders of Azovstal does not fade into the shadows. As long as hundreds of people remain in Russian captivity, the story of leaving the plant is not over.

The defense of Mariupol has already become part of Ukrainian history. But the moral outcome of this story has not yet been set. It will depend on how many defenders return home, how loudly they will be talked about, and whether international pressure can force Russia to release those it continues to hold as a living tool of war.