Several hundred people took part in a march in Vilnius on Monday night to demand the release of Ukrainians who defended the city of Mariupol in 2022 and are still imprisoned in Russia.
The march started at City Hall Square and went to Cathedral Square.
Oleksandr, 36, who works for a logistics company, told BNS that his cousin was among the imprisoned defenders of Mariupol.
“Even though I am here, I feel some anger. Most people here are shouting, asking the right questions, [...] but whom are they addressing? We shouldn’t be asking rhetorical questions,” Oleksandr said.
Tatiana, a 26-year-old student who took part in the march, said she was taking part to express solidarity with the imprisoned defenders of Mariupol and their relatives.
“Today we have come to support, to remember our heroes. They deserve freedom and our enemy deserves punishment. [...] We fought and we will fight until the last drop of blood,” Tatiana told BNS.
At the end of the rally, people in the Cathedral Square formed the word “AZOV”, the name of the battalion that led the defence of the city that has been occupied by Russia since May 2022.
Around 250 people took part in the march on Monday night, according to police officers on the ground.
The action was organised by the Ukrainian Youth Group, the Association of Families of Azovstal Defenders, and the organiser of the pro-Ukraine rallies Arkadijus Vinokuras.
The families of Mariupol defenders have not been in contact with them since May 2022.
An elite unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fought the Russians for Mariupol from a position at the Azovstal metallurgical plant.
The Russians captured the city in 2022 after a three-month battle that left most of Mariupol in ruins. The last defenders of the Azov detachment surrendered in May of that year. According to Ukraine, more than 260 soldiers, including some seriously wounded, have been evacuated and taken to Moscow-controlled areas.
In September last year, a large prisoner exchange between Kyiv and Moscow was announced. Ukraine recovered 215 prisoners, including soldiers who had led the defence of Azovstal in Mariupol.
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