Ukrainian pilots’ daring low-level missions to resupply under-siege soldiers at Azovstal are revealed in dramatic new footage
- Video shows audacious resupply to under-siege Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol
- Seven missions with 16 Mi-8 helicopters brought food, ammo, doctors & troops
- During two resupply journeys, helicopters were shot down on their way home
- Zelensky said 90 per cent of mission pilots either stayed behind or were killed
New footage gives an inside view of the Ukrainian army’s audacious reinforcement runs into Mariupol under heavy Russian fire.
Clips released by Kyiv’s Ministry of Defence show Intelligence Directorate and Azov Regiment fighters fly low and fast above wreckage into the Azovstal steelworks.
Beginning their voyage from safe takeoff points more than 100km (60 miles) outside Mariupol, the helicopters venture into the warzone despite a vious Russian siege.
Video shows the helicopter approach Azovstal before landing, with soldiers rushing to disembark and take crucial supplies to the site’s struggling population.
The Ministry of Defence footage shot from the helicopter shows the bold journey into Azovstal
Footage then shows the armoured helicopters evacuating the scene, Dnepr Express reported.
Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians fought fiercely to defend the key strategic supply point from Russian invaders.
Despite their valiant efforts, Putin’s forces took control of Azovstal two weeks ago following civilian evacuations.
As many as 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers stayed behind – with Kyiv claiming its troops are now being tortured with pliers and electric shocks.
Seven missions involving 16 Mi-8 military helicopters successfully reached Azovstal in the final days of the Russian siege, the Ukrainian army claimed.
The pilots are seen flying low and fast into the warzone to drop off essential army supplies
A soldier is seen urging fellow troops off the helicopter during the light-speed operation
Food, water, medicine, medics, ammunition and even soldiers were transported.
During one journey, five doctors including a surgeon and an anesthesiologist flew in.
In another, 72 soldiers from the Azov Regiment were brought in as reinforcements.
Yet not all the ventures were entirely successful, with Ukrainian military helicopters shot down during the fifth and seventh missions, Pravda Ukraine reported.
The Ukrainian army has not disclosed the number of casualties, but judging by the number of key supplies taken in, it’s possible the missions saved hundreds of lives.
The incredible video then shows the military helicopter make a swift Top Gun-style getaway
President Zelensky said ninety per cent of pilots who flew the highly dangerous missions into Mariupol were either killed or stayed behind, Babel Ukraine reported.
He said: ‘A very large number of our pilots died.
‘Absolutely heroic people who knew that it was difficult to fly to Azovstal and [brought] them medicine, food, water, [and] picked up the bodies of the wounded.
‘Imagine what these people did. They were absolutely heroic.’
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Azovstal was finally evacuated of all civilians on May 20.
Moscow claims it captured 2,439 Ukrainian soldiers still at the plant, although Kyiv disputes this figure.
The Ukrainian soldiers still in Azovstal are now reportedly being tortured.
In an 80-minute phone call with Putin over the weekend, the presidents of France and Germany urged the Kremlin to release its prisoners of war.
Other soldiers have allegedly been injected with unknown drugs and forced to record confessions, singing the Russian national anthem and begging for mercy.
It came as Mr Zelensky said he expects ‘good news’ about the provision of long-range missile systems from the West this week.
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