Asan Isenadzhiyev is a Crimean Tatar, originally from Hireya. Before the war, he worked in an ambulance. During the defense of Mariupol, the medic helped the wounded at Azovstal.
He is a paramedic from Azovstal, known for his photos and videos, who took part in the defense of Mariupol for 83 days and later spent 227 days in Russian captivity.
Assan’s video message to Turkish President Recep Erdogan influenced the extradition of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
On December 31, 2022, Azovstal paramedic Asan Isenadzhiyev was among 140 Ukrainians released from Russian captivity.
Asan spoke about his experience at Azovstal for the Union of Crimean Tatars in Turkey in connection with an event dedicated to the beginning of the occupation of Crimea.
— Please tell us, in 2014, on February 26, when the occupation began. Where were you, how did the occupation begin for you?
— First, I would like to express my sincere condolences to the people of Turkey over the earthquake that has occurred and my sympathies to the families who have lost their relatives. We are praying with you for them.
Regarding your question: On February 26, 2014, I was in the city of Simferopol, because at that time I was studying at the medical educational complex at St. George’s, and I was skipping classes because the rallies had started. Something good and something bad.
-So you participated in the rally on February 26, 2014 in Simferopol, right?
-Yes, of course.
-Were you present when the Crimean Tatars met the leader of the Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Dzhemilev, in Armyansk?
-No, I left Crimea already then, because the hunt for us, Ukrainian activists, began.
— We know that you lived in the Genichesk district, right? What did you do during those years?
–After I left the territory of Crimea, I entered a medical college where I studied medical care, specializing in paramedic. In parallel with my studies, I took an active part in the blockade of Crimea together with the guys from Azov, the Right Sector, hospitalists and just activists, Ukrainian nationalists.
— Azovstal and Mariupol. For a long time, all the attention of Ukraine and the world was focused on this city, on Azovstal. How did you get there? Can you tell us about the events at Azovstal? How did you record your very touching video?
— On February 24, 2022, when the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation began, I was in the city of Mariupol, because since 2019 I had been a special serviceman in the National Guard of Ukraine, in particular in the Azov Special Forces unit. We were standing in the anti-airborne defense, in the village of Yalta (Donetsk region). I took part in the evacuation and assistance to the wounded. Sometimes from February 24 to the first days of April. On April 1, I had to evacuate the wounded to the territory of Azovstal, where we were ambushed. My vehicle was destroyed, and there was no safer way to get to the territory of Mariupol, so I stayed on the territory of the plant. From the first of April to the eighteenth of May, I was in the bunker and helped doctors from the 555th medical hospital, providing assistance to wounded soldiers.
The video was recorded on May 5, when I heard from the commanders that there is such a procedure as extradition, and this event has happened in history. I asked if I could record a video message to Recep Erdoğan, because I am a Muslim. Maybe he will see it, and if he doesn’t, we will die here anyway. Personally, I didn’t expect that this video would get such a big publicity and that Recep Erdoğan would see it within 24 hours of its publication. My stay at the plant ended on May 18, when my group was captured.
–What difficulties did you face at Azovstal as a doctor?
— My job was to perform primary sterilization before surgery. Since Mariupol, I have also noticed that the road from the evacuation point to the hospital is dangerous, as well as time, which is not in our favor, and the lack of medicines. When we ran out of tourniquets, we switched to ordinary Soviet-style Esmarch tourniquets. When we ran out of bandages, we had to take the clothes off the dead and wash and boil them to disinfect them, and we used the same clothes to help the wounded.
–How long were you in captivity?
— I was personally held captive for 227 days, and I was released on December 31, on New Year’s Day.
–Did the Russians identify you with the video message to Erdogan? Did they know you were recording it? Or was it not a subject of their attention?
— Some knew, some didn’t.
— The month of February, the twentieth of February, is the 9th anniversary of the occupation of Crimea and the beginning of the war, and the year of the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. What can you say to our compatriots, first of all Crimean Tatars, who are now in Ukraine, in the Ukrainian Crimea, in Turkey and in many countries around the world? With what words can you address them?
— February 16 is the Day of Unity of Ukraine. We are all one nation and must remember this. Why? Because the Ukrainian nation and the Crimean Tatar nation are about unity. In fact, there are very few Crimean Tatars left. Many young people do not appreciate traditions, do not know their language, and forget their roots: where their ancestors came from, what traditions and ethnic folklore they have. Young people are beginning to forget this. And when a person who is simply a Crimean Tatar or a Crimean Tatar woman and does not know their language, does not know their traditions, they cannot call themselves a Crimean Tatar, because a nation is alive as long as its ethnic group is alive.
We need to help each other, not forget about it, help our loved ones and remember history. We must never forget which country deported our people, because of which country we lost almost 70% of our people, we must remember 1944, the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. We must remember who put spokes in our wheels and who strangled our people. When we remember our history, we will remember the mistakes we made. Everybody makes mistakes, we have to remember them and avoid them. We have to restore our family, our nation and build our autonomous republic of Crimea as part of an independent and united Ukraine, because in my opinion, it is in Ukraine that the Crimean Tatars will have a better future. We have very good relations with Europe, with the Western world, with Turkey, first, and we have to appreciate it. No one is friends with the Russian Federation, but we are friends with Ukraine. So we have to remember our country, be united and help each other.
–There is an opinion that after the de-occupation of the Crimean peninsula, de-Russification will be introduced there, meaning that everything will be in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar only. Do you like this idea and what is your attitude to it?
-In my opinion, it will be right because we live in Ukraine. We should all speak Ukrainian. It will be right because we should take care of our language and know our history.
Russian, Ukrainian, and Crimean Tatar have always been spoken on the territory of Crimea. There were many people from the Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Jewish diasporas, all speaking their own languages, everyone was comfortable and there was no oppression from the language barrier. But I think it’s normal for all the signs to be in Ukrainian, because we are Ukraine and we should know Ukrainian, although everyone has always been friendly to all languages.
–We know that such questions are uncomfortable for the military, but what do you plan to do after the war? What are your plans after treatment?
-I can tell you what I will do after the war is over. After the war, when I am freed, I will most likely do some quiet and peaceful work, perhaps have some kind of farm in peace and quiet, in a village near Bakhchisarai.
–There is a famous picture on the Internet where you show a heart, please tell us the circumstances of this photo.
–The photo was taken on April 20, at that time the garrison of another battalion of the Azov regiment was moving from Mariupol to the Azovstal plant and suffered heavy losses. We had a lot of wounds that day, at least 150, if we are talking only about the seriously wounded. There were medics from the Azov regiment, medics from the National Guard of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, from the 555th military medical hospital. We didn’t sleep for about 4 or 5 days, in general. I thought we were all going to die. At that moment, my friend said to me: “Well, if you’re going to die, let me take a picture of you with a heart, and you can send it to your family or post it on Instagram, and you’ll have at least some kind of heart.” As for the caption, I just heard this melody in TikTok. Everything is banal and prosaic.
–Since 2014, the Russian authorities have been repressing the indigenous people of Crimea, the Crimean Tatars. Since then, it has been almost impossible to release political prisoners from Russian prisons. This happens because they believe that political prisoners are terrorists and the Russian authorities do not want to release them at all. Please tell us, as a Crimean Tatar who was in captivity, is it possible to release all political prisoners, and how can Turkish President Erdoğan influence this?
Political prisoners and prisoners of war are a weight in political negotiations as long as we have their political prisoners. We have their prisoners of war, they have our guys. This is a lever in the negotiations. It’s politics, it’s a very dirty thing, and I don’t understand it very well. As for Turkey, Erdoğan is influential because it is a fairly powerful state in the Middle East. It is a leader militarily and politically. Vladimir Putin, with a small letter, listens to what Erdoğan says, for him, it is a personality, I think so. Erdoğan influences the negotiations, he influences the political situation, because he is a powerful enough leader of the country.
