The Heart of Azovstal project will provide dedicated assistance to Mariupol defenders and families of the killed, captured and missing defenders of the Azovstal fortress. Rinat Akhmetov has donated UAH1 billion to support the military and their families.
Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military initiative is a large-scale campaign that provides assistance from SCM businesses to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, intelligence officers, medics and critical infrastructure workers. It has been running since the early days of the war. In January 2023, Rinat Akhmetov announced a new focus area for the Steel Front: supporting defenders who valiantly held the line in Mariupol at the beginning of the invasion. A dedicated project was launched with a symbolic name, the Heart of Azovstal.
“Their acts of bravery are unparalleled in modern history. They, their sacrifice and their courage helped to contain the enemy in the first months of the war, and let all of us feel the inevitability of the victory of Ukraine now.”
— Rinat AkhmetovThe project has numerous key programmes: health (providing medical assistance, rehabilitation and prosthetic treatment to the military); employment (assisting with transition to civilian life after military discharge); families (helping families of the killed, captured and missing Mariupol defenders); legal assistance and defence of rights; and psychological support and assistance to the men and women released from captivity.
To make the project as effective as possible, the Heart of Azovstal will have a Coordination Council. This advisory body will include representatives of the military units that defended Mariupol in spring 2022. The Coordination Council will be responsible for verifying the identity of the people who have sought assistance, as well as for making decisions on ways to help them best.
The Heart of Azovstal was launched on 16 February 2023. During the event, the guests learnt about the key principles, focus areas, programmes and the project team.
During the presentation, Natalia Yemchenko, Director of Public Relations and Communications at SCM, said: “For 86 days, our defenders held the line in besieged Mariupol. Their act of bravery made it possible to slow the advance of the Russian army and has already become a world legend and a symbol of Ukraine’s invincibility. At that time, it was the Azovstal plant, Ukraine’s steel fortress – with its robust bunkers, enough food and water to last weeks, and supplies of medicines and fuel – that brought together the defenders. It is every Mariupol defender’s right to receive decent support now and to look to the future with confidence. That is why Rinat Akhmetov tasked us with launching the Heart of Azovstal project, an effective system of support for soldiers, a way to show our respect for their valour and dignity.”
Metinvest Group, the owner of Azovstal, is helping to organise the project. Its prompt actions made the plant’s bunkers suitable to act as proper shelters. This saved the lives of civilians who were taking refuge in Azovstal’s shelters, and helped the vastly outnumbered defenders of the city to hold out for almost three months and resist the enemy.
Commenting, Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Metinvest Group CEO, said: “Azovstal was the last stand of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Mariupol. It is the valour and invincibility of Ukrainian defenders that made the fortress plant a symbol of the struggle of the entire country. Now it is hard to talk about rebuilding the steel plants. However, now we have to take care of the people who heroically stood against the enemy. Now we have to support the survivors, the families of the fallen defenders of Mariupol and missing soldiers. That is why the Heart of Azovstal project is well-timed and much-needed. Metinvest Group has always been and will be a pillar for Ukraine until its victory. Mariupol will surely be rebuilt, and steelmakers will take a direct part in this. Our Group will make every effort to make the City of Mary a city of dreams again: comfortable, successful and beautiful. A city that will always remember and honour its defenders.”
Ksenia Sukhova is at the helm of the Heart of Azovstal:
“For every area of the Heart of Azovstal, we have dedicated, flexible programmes that will be adapted to the needs of our beneficiaries. We will be advised by experts in every field, but the key experts for us are the Mariupol defenders who know exactly what is important and what is not for their brothers-in-arms and families of those who fought for the freedom of Ukraine, putting their own freedom and life at stake.”
The mission of the Heart of Azovstal is to ensure respect and support for every defender of Mariupol.
Captain Oleksandr Cholovsky, a Mariupol defender and Deputy Commander for Combat Training of the 2nd Battalion of the 36th Separate Brigade of Marines, said: “When our fellow soldiers are released from captivity, specialists try to help them, but not all of them engage. They find it hard, especially those with amputated limbs. They have received prostheses, most often through volunteers. They are sent abroad and have surgeries and treatment. And when they return home, they are forgotten. The military cannot adjust to civilian life, and we need to help with this.”
Commenting on the project’s task, Colonel Serhiy Sovinsky, a Mariupol defender and Head of the Training Unit of the Eastern Territorial Department of the National Guard of Ukraine, said: “It is very important not to forget anyone, so that this project reaches out to everyone. The key point is to provide targeted assistance to the families of heroes who died in Mariupol, prisoners of war and families of all those who are missing. We must ensure that assistance and care cover as many families of our soldiers as possible, and this is extremely meticulous and difficult work.”
Requests for support can be sent to the Heart of Azovstal project starting from 16 February 2023. They can be filed:
- on the website of the Steel Front initiative, the Heart of Azovstal section: https://steelfront.scm.com.ua/pro-serce-azovstali
- by email to heart.azovstal@gmail.com
- by calling +38 (068) 083 88 00 or texting in messengers
Follow the project, its programmes, news and stories on its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HeartofAzovstal/
As a reminder, Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front is an initiative that brings all military assistance provided by Rinat Akhmetov’s SCM businesses to the Armed Forces, the Main Directorate of Intelligence, medics and critical infrastructure workers under one umbrella. The overall aid has reached UAH4.5 billion (excluding UAH1 billion allocated specifically for the Heart of Azovstal).
