Painful wait for captured fighters

Wives of Azov regiment servicemen who were captured by Russians in Mariupol’s Azovstal plant hold placards reading ‘We demand the return of our husbands at home’ and ‘Azovstal – one year of captivity’ during their picket outside Kyiv City Hall. — AFP

YEVGENIA Synelnyk can barely look at her brother’s photo a year after Russia captured him and over 2,000 fighters in the Azovstal siege. She fears she hasn’t done enough to bring him home.

Families like hers have used protest, political pressure and their own pain to battle for their loved ones’ return since the siege in the port city of Mariupol, which came to symbolise Ukrainian resistance.