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This article in German.
With a desperate cry for help, the wives of two soldiers of the Ukrainian Azov regiment turned to Pope Francis. The purpose of their appeal is to save their husbands and other soldiers from the besieged steel plant in Mariupol.
At a personal audience with Pope Francis, two women, Katerina Prokopenko and Yulia Fedosyuk, asked him for help in saving their husbands. This was reported by international media and the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera”
The audience was also attended by the Russian-Canadian artist Pyotr Verzilov, who is also known as the unofficial speaker of the group “Pussy Riot”.
“We ask His Holiness, the Pope of Rome, and Metropolitan Onufry (ed. note: Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine) as a third party to join the events of this war and begin the procedure for their release. We hope to provide secure corridors for their evacuation to a third country where they can lead a normal life,” an Italian newspaper quoted the women’s cry for help.
For many weeks, their husbands, Ukrainian fighters, are in the territory of a steel plant, surrounded by Russian troops and shelled by them. Denis Prokopenko is a Lieutenant Colonel of the National Guard of Ukraine and commander of the Azov Regiment. Arseniy Fedosyuk – a fighter of the regiment.
On Wednesday morning, both women stood in the front rows in St. Peter’s Square. They had two letters and several photographs with them, which they wanted to give to the Pope. Indeed, they managed to talk with the Pope for almost five minutes.
“He told us that he understood the situation and that he would pray for them and try to do his best,” the women told reporters at the Vatican press center.
“We invited the Pope to visit Ukraine and asked him to talk to Putin,” said Yulia Fedosyuk.
Our days are filled with fear and suffering: “The last message I received from my husband consisted of only three words: I love you. I told him that we would try to save them all. But we are very worried because we do not know what might happen tomorrow or in three hours. We only know that the Russian side continues shelling every hour, and we do not know at all what to do. We are just waiting for the world, our government or anyone else to help us save them.“
According to an Italian newspaper, the women reported that the defenders of the steel mill were running out of drinking water. Arseniy Fedosyuk asked his wife to look for information on how to live as long as possible without water.
“I am very afraid of losing him and I am angry with myself that I cannot do anything to help. What is happening there is just awful. The events at Azovstal are like a reality show. And no one helps us, so we now really hope for the Pope. He is our last hope,” said Yulia Fedosyuk.
