INTERNATIONAL: A Ukrainian marine commander in the besieged city of Mariupol made a plea for evacuation of troops and civilians holed up in the Azovstal steel plant.

SERHIY VOLYNA, COMMANDER OF UKRAINE'S 36TH MARINE BRIGADE, SPEAKING IN A VIDEO POSTED ONLINE, SAYING:

"My name is Serhiy, my surname is Volyna, I am a temporary commander of the 36th Marine Brigade. We have been fighting for 62 days, we are fully under siege. We are now on the territory of Azovstal plant. We are fighting alongside Azov Regiment and other units which, following the fighting in Mariupol, have found themselves under siege. In just a few words: there are more than 600 wounded in our unit, the wounds are of various seriousness. They need medical attention; in here there are no conditions, no medications or personnel that could help them. There are also wounded civilians we try to help as much as we can. There are hundreds of civilians here with us; tens of children, there are many people with reduced mobility, many elderly. The situation is very difficult; there are shortages of water, food as well as ammunition, weapons, military equipment, this I do not even want to mention. I have appealed to all world leaders, I have appealed to world diplomats, I have appealed to Pope Francis, I have shouted at the top of my voice asking for us to be extracted. Many ask what kind of procedure extraction is. I would like to give the example of rescuing in 1940; World War Two, allied states, mainly Great Britain and France, (their troops) found themselves on the French coastline. They were surrounded by the German troops but Hitler himself ordered them to stop military actions. This enabled the allies to carry out evacuation. The evacuation rescued more than 300,000 people. The evacuation was conducted by all means possible - boats, ships, civilian vessels, fishing boats. People were saved by the civilians, by the military by various groups and organizations and by people who cared. Today my appeal is: save the Mariupol garrison, apply the extraction procedure to us. It is not 1940, it is 2022. People here will simply die. The wounded will die and those who are alive will fall in the battle. Civilians die together with us, in bunkers, at homes, at multi-story buildings where they are being shot at. I do not even know where they are but this is a huge problem. Very, very many people have died in the city; the city has been wiped off the face of the earth. Thank you, we very much hope for your (help)."

Reuters verified the identity of the commander with previous news reports.

The Azovstal steel factory is the main remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol, a city that has seen sustained bombardment since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.

Russian forces have been attempting to storm the plant, according to Ukrainian officials, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's comments last week that the complex did not need to be taken.

^{PHOTO: SERHIY VOLYNA, COMMANDER OF UKRAINE'S 36TH MARINE BRIGADE WHICH IS FIGHTING ALONGSIDE AZOV REGIMENT AT AZOVSTAL IN MARIUPOL, SPEAKING IN A VIDEO POSTED ONLINE}